“Okay, then.”
There was an old-fashioned industrial clock hanging on the wall and Max could literally hear the seconds tick by. “I also want to thank you for having dinner with me. It was very nice. The good kind of nice.”
She looked confused. “Is there a bad kind of nice?”
“So I’m told.” Now what? “I’d like to do it again, if you’re so inclined.”
“That would be lovely. I have plans Saturday, but I like the fish fry at the diner on Friday nights. If that’s not too soon.”
“No.” He frowned at the pen chained to the counter, wondering if people actually tried to steal them. “I mean, no, that’s not too soon. I haven’t had their fish fry yet.”
“So five o’clock Friday?”
He was aware of somebody coming through the door and was grateful for the interruption, which effectively ended the conversation. “I’ll be there. And thank you for the form.”
Once he was outside, he took a deep breath and started the walk back to his car. There. He’d done it. He had a second date with Nola Kendrick, who was a very nice woman. The good kind of nice.
It was unfortunate the diner was their only option, no matter how much he liked the place or how good their fish fry was. It wasn’t very romantic, like the place he’d taken Tori to on their mock date. There had even been candlelight, which had seemed very romantic when reflected in Tori’s brown eyes.
He paused in the process of unlocking his car. It seemed odd that, despite several conversations and a dinner date, he had no idea what color Nola’s eyes were.
He’d have to remedy that lack of knowledge on Friday.
*
The next morning, Tori was once again filling in for Liz at an obscene hour of the morning. But she’d been ready this time. After leaving Gavin’s yesterday, she’d gone home and made a list of everything she had going on, professionally.
The first thing she’d done was put a notice on her website that she wasn’t accepting new clients for the remainder of the year. Then she prioritized the jobs she had in the queue and sorted them into tasks that required a lot of time and concentration, and smaller jobs that could be done in short bursts between everything else.
She was going to get everything done, but it would be a delicate dance. Then she’d foregone the nap and gone to bed earlier than she had in years, anticipating that early morning phone call.
What she hadn’t anticipated was Max walking through the door at eight o’clock. As far as she could tell, breakfast at the diner was yet another break in his routine. The guy was living on the wild side now.
She poured him a coffee and snagged a wrapped silverware bundle. “What brings you into town so early?”
“I’ve asked Nola for another date.”
She set the cup down, then cursed under her breath when the hot liquid sloshed over the rim onto her hand. “At eight in the morning?”
“No. A breakfast date would be weird, wouldn’t it?”
She shrugged. “I guess it depends on why you’re together for breakfast. But I meant, did you ask her at eight in the morning?”
“Oh. No, I asked her yesterday. I’m going to build a garage, so I went to see what the next step was and she gave me a building permit form. And I asked her if she’d like to go out again.”
“And? What did she say?”
“We’re going to have dinner again. The fish fry here on Friday. I haven’t had it, but she says it’s very good.”
“I’m happy for you. A second date is kind of a big deal.”
“By a third date, we should be comfortable enough to make the drive to the city and back together.”
The smile on her face felt incredibly fake, but he didn’t seem to notice. “You’ll be dancing with her before you know it.”
“And I owe it all to you.”
“No, you don’t. I might have boosted your confidence a little and we had some fun with it—helped you relax—but you’re the same Max now that you were before you met me.”
The way his green eyes captured and held hers made her stomach do a flip. “No, I don’t think I am.”
She wasn’t the same, either, but the coffee counter at the Trailside Diner was not the place to have deep personal revelations. Especially unwelcome ones. With a glib laugh, she reached under the counter and grabbed some sugar packets even though his didn’t really need refilling, just to break the eye contact.
“Hey, if you want to give me the credit, I’ll take it. You can name your first kid after me.”
“Then let’s hope it’s a girl.”
She could tell by the slight curve of his mouth that he was teasing. He wasn’t really mentally naming the children he might have with Nola, which was a good thing. Max could be intense and, if he moved too fast, he’d scare off any woman.
“Do you know what you want for breakfast?”
He looked at the menu, but didn’t pick it up. “What’s good?”
“Everything’s good. Carl isn’t a fancy cook, but his breakfasts are amazing.”