“What kind of music do you like?” Cole asked.
She sat up and faced him. “All kinds, really. Everything from classical to hip-hop.”
“Eclectic, aren’t you?”
“A bit. How about you?”
“I’m a fan of country, blues, and jazz.”
“And yet you go to the clubs. Where the autotuned, electropop, dance music plays.”
He laughed. “Hey, I hang out at the clubs. I didn’t say I liked the club music.”
“Then why do you go there?”
“I like the people.”
“Because they’re such good friends of yours? The ones whose last names you don’t know?”
“You’re going there again?”
She decided to take a different approach. “Okay. Now that you’re home, tell me about your friends. Any friends from high school you still hang out with?”
“Not really. My two best friends from high school both live out of state now.”
“That’s too bad. So you don’t see them anymore?”
“One lives in Denver, and the other in Chicago. Whenever I have games there, we meet for dinner. Otherwise, no. They come home to see family over the holidays, and I’m usually home in the off-season, so our visits don’t coincide.”
“I’m sorry. I suppose now that you’re back you’ll make new friends.”
He rimmed the tip of his shot glass with his fingertip and gave her a lazy smile. “I already have.”
“At the club.”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
“Those are groupies, not friends. You can make the distinction, can’t you?”
“I think you’re hung up too much on the friends thing. Guys don’t need close friends like women seem to. With guys, wherever we are, that’s who our friends are. We don’t call guys on the phone to chat for hours. We don’t go shopping together. Guys don’t need the bonding rituals that women seem to need.”
“Maybe you’re right.” She’d let that one drop…for now. But she’d get back to it, because he was wrong. He’d isolated himself for years, and there was a reason for it. Tonight wasn’t the night to discuss it in-depth.
Not when there was great music and amazing ambience. Instead, she listened to the band play and the singer belt out more mournful songs that filled her soul. It was captivating. This place was lovely and, though crowded, it was understated. No one came up to Cole and bothered him. He blended in and they were able to enjoy the band without being bombarded with women or the media.
“It’s still early,” he said, holding out her chair for her. “Let’s go take a walk.”
“Sure.”
He held the door for her, but instead of taking her to the car, he led her across the street. There was a festival going on near the riverfront about a half a block away.
“Can you walk in those things?” he asked, directing his gaze toward her heels.
She grinned. “Of course.”
“I think I should hold your hand.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “Why?”
“First, because I’m afraid you’re going to trip and fall. And second, if this was a real date, that’s what I’d do.”
“All right.”
There were tents set up with beer and food, a live band up on a stage as well as crafts and all forms of entertainment. It was lively and the area was packed with people enjoying the festival.
Savannah was definitely overdressed, but she didn’t care. She loved watching the people mingle. The band was playing some very loud rock music, and the crowd was electrified.
Cole held tight to her hand as they strolled among the vendors hawking pottery, jewelry, artwork, and the like. Savannah enjoyed fairs like this, loved to stop at each tent to see what they were selling.
“Is this what you’d really do if you were out on a date?” she asked as they stopped to buy a drink from one of the food carts.
“Sure it is.”
She took a drink of the lemonade. It was tart and sweet. Absolutely perfect on a hot night. “Somehow I can’t see you doing a riverfront fair.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem your type of fun thing to do.”
“You don’t know me all that well, Peaches.”
He was right about that. She only knew him on paper. “That’s what this exercise is all about. Getting to know you better so I can clear up any misconceptions I might have about you.”
“Yeah, well, it seems like you have a lot of them.”
She tilted her head back to look at him. “Do I?”
“Obviously. You thought all I liked to do was hang out in nightclubs and have orgies with women.”
She gasped. “Now how could you possibly make that kind of generalization?”
“I don’t know. How could you?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know, Cole, for a man you’re awfully sensitive.”
“And you’re a typical woman who judges on first impression.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not easily insulted,” she said with a laugh. “And if this is how you talk to the women you date, it’s no wonder you frequent the clubs.”
“What does that mean?”