“Okay.” He didn’t want to talk about Nola Kendrick. He wanted to talk about Tori.
“What do you like to do?” Just as he opened his mouth to respond, she held up her hand. “Nothing to do with model railroading or sports.”
He closed his mouth and thought about it. “I like reading.”
“Okay. What do you like to read?”
“Everything, I guess. But mostly military thrillers. Historical biographies. Stuff like that.”
“Not my kind of stuff, but I like to read, too. Romance. Horror. Almost anything, but those big, epic fantasy series, mostly. Anyway, loving to read is a great quality, but it’s not really something you can do as a couple.”
“Two people curled up in front of a fireplace on a snowy winter day isn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon.”
Her expression turned soft and a little dreamy. “You have a point, there. But that’s once you’re a couple. And it’s the same as going to a movie, Max. You don’t have to make conversation.”
“I think all the time we’ve spent together proves I’m capable of having a conversation.”
“Because I’m just me.”
He wondered what she meant by that, exactly. Because she was genuinely so easy to talk to or because he wasn’t trying to have a real, heading-toward-marriage relationship with her?
Their server brought their dinners and, after delivering their plates, brought them drink refills. There was a lull in the conversation as they went through the process of tasting and seasoning their food, for which he was grateful. Tori challenged him and, while he enjoyed it immensely, he could use the short reprieve.
He had to keep reminding himself this wasn’t a real date. It was what he’d like a real date to be—with laughter and banter and that sizzle of attraction—but her purpose in being here was to help him find another woman. It was an odd situation, to say the least.
“This is quite good,” he said after a while. “Though I prefer your cousin’s cooking, to be honest. Gavin, right?”
Her smile was bright and kick-started an ache that had nothing to do with the meal he was eating. “That’s right. And I’m sure he and Paige both would be glad to know you prefer the diner to this place.”
The small talk came easy, then. He asked about Gavin and his culinary aspirations. About how Paige had come to buy the closed-down diner and reopen it. Because there were so many people in Whitford they both knew, but she had more stories about, it was easy to not only get through dinner, but the car ride home, as well.
When he pulled up in front of the bank building, he found himself very reluctant to get out of the car. “I enjoyed tonight.”
“So did I. I think whoever goes out to dinner with you next will have a wonderful time.”
It wouldn’t be her, though. “I think being out with a friend and being out on a first date are two very different things, though.”
“Nola’s lived in Whitford her entire life, you know. You can ask her about her work and what it was like growing up there as a child. You’ll do fine and once the conversation starts rolling, you relax pretty quickly.”
Max wasn’t sure he felt as optimistic as she did. He got out of the car and walked around to open her door. Once again, he took her hand to help her out. He’d never done it for other women in the past, but he liked the feel of her hand in his and the way her fingers squeezed his slightly as she stood.
“It’s good that you have a streetlight here,” he said as they walked toward the door.
“Yeah. I feel pretty safe in Whitford. Especially since the bank keeps a couple of administrative offices on the second floor, so I’m the only tenant. They use the top floor for storage.”
She pulled her keys out of her small black bag, but stopped walking. This was where she’d thank him for dinner and disappear through the door, but he wasn’t ready to leave yet. And if she was going to be his dating coach, they may as well be thorough.
“Is this the part where I’d kiss you good-night?”
Her lips parted and he knew she was probably surprised by the question, but with her face turned up under the streetlight, she looked very much like a woman who should be kissed.
“I...uh, I guess if the date went well and you’re getting that vibe then, yes, this is the part where you’d kiss her good-night.”
“I’m not very good at reading vibes.”
“If she puts her key right in the lock or keeps her hand on the doorknob, so she’s kind of facing away, that would be a no.”
“What about the way you’re standing right now?”
Her keys were still in her hand and she was facing him. She hadn’t even moved closer to the door. When her tongue flicked over her lip, as if her mouth had gone dry, he had to stifle a groan. “I guess...yes. If I was your date and I was standing like this, you could move a little closer. If I didn’t step back or turn away, you could make your move.”