“So my specific compliments should be vague.”
Stopping him before he could open the door to the restaurant, she turned to look up at him. “Just be you, Max. The woman you marry has to love you for who you are, and I shouldn’t have laughed. It was just so...adorable.”
“Adorable.” He growled a little and yanked open the door for her. “Great.”
*
Adorable. That wasn’t exactly the word a grown man wanted to hear from a beautiful woman wearing sexy black boots. He pulled up the rear, scowling at the back of Tori’s head, as the hostess led them to their table.
He might not know how to drive a tractor or wrestle an ATV through the mud or change a woman’s oil for her but, by God, he was not adorable.
Tori asked for a glass of white wine and Max ordered a glass of water and decaf, since it was after five. Once they had their drinks, Tori ordered baked haddock and he asked for the steak tips. Their server took the menus and went away.
“I’m not adorable,” he said as soon as they were alone.
“It wasn’t an insult.”
“Not if you’re a six-year-old or a baby panda bear.”
She tilted her head. “How about endearing?”
“How about sexy?”
“You told me I smell like fruit.”
“I like fruit.”
She took a long drink of her wine. “I should have asked for the whole bottle.”
When he smiled, she smiled back at him. “You smell very nice tonight, Tori.”
“Thank you.” She set her wineglass down. “I’ve been thinking about who would be a good match for you, and I think you should ask out Nola Kendrick.”
He wracked his brain, trying to put a face with the name, but he came up blank. “I don’t know who that is.”
“She works at the town hall. She’s around your age and has blond hair cut at, like, chin level.”
“I was at the town hall a couple of months ago.”
“Then you probably talked to Nola. She’s attractive and very nice. And she’s kind of quiet, too, so I think you’d have a very nice time.”
He knew should be excited at the idea of having a prospect, but all he had was a vague idea of a nice woman who’d given him a receipt for his tax payment. “So you think I should ask her to have dinner with me?”
“I’d offer to set it up as a blind date, but I don’t know her that well. And, let’s be honest, this whole serial-killer thing might have been amusing to you, but it makes it a little difficult to offer you up for some quality alone time, if you know what I mean.”
He leaned across the table so he could lower his voice. “How about a porn studio? Better or worse?”
Tori laughed. “With Nola, I’m honestly not sure. It’s the quiet ones you have to watch.”
“If I ask her to dinner at the diner, it’s not an ideal place for a nice date, but she’ll feel more secure than if I ask her to get in my car and head off to the city.”
“Absolutely. Unfortunately, that means she has to decide if she’s up to the gossip that’ll come after or not, but you’re a good-looking guy. I think she’ll risk it.”
He took a sip of his water, watching her over the rim. “You’re very good for my ego, you know.”
“Just giving you a boost, so you’ll be confident when you approach a woman.” She paused, taking a quick drink. “I wish there was more to do in Whitford. Something for after dinner, if you both want the date to continue. Like someplace to dance or...something.”
“I don’t foresee myself going dancing, even if it was an option. I’m more of a dinner-and-a-movie type. Not that Whitford has a movie theater.”
“Of course you are. You don’t have to talk to a woman when you’re watching a movie. And I bet, between chewing and listening to your date, you don’t do a lot of talking over dinner, either.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Dinner and a movie don’t require thought or intimacy. That’s all I’m saying.”
He wanted to deny he took the easy way out on dates, but she was right. She was also a little annoying, with this ability to see right through all the tricks he used to navigate through life. “I don’t have very good rhythm. That’s all.”
“I’ve watched you move, Max. I bet you can dance.”
He watched the candlelight flicker in her eyes and tried not overthink the words she’d said. She’d told him before she watched people and studied their body language, but that didn’t stop the sexual hunger that seemed to be short-circuiting his brain. Not this woman.
Tori didn’t look away from his gaze and he wondered what she would do if he reached across the table and took her hand. For the first time in his life, Max wanted to dance. He wanted to pull her into his arms and see how she fit against his body.
“Nola,” she said quickly, as if it burst out of her mouth, and the name hit him like a bucket of ice water. “We need to figure out what you’ll talk about with Nola.”