His eyes widened. “Uh-oh. We could have a problem . . . because I love to eat sweets.”
For a moment, she had a flash of North Callaghan texting her that he liked cupcakes. She knew he had not been talking about true cupcakes. In this case, she knew Brendan was talking about eating sweets. For some reason her chest sank a little. What was wrong with her? She wanted Brendan to be a little dirty? This was a first date. He was appropriate and respectful and she should appreciate that and not long for something else.
She fiddled with her lasagna. “Oh, do you? Then you might like my cheesecake.” Okay, so she was attempting to flirt a little. Not to the level of last night’s flirting with North Callaghan, but definitely flirting.
“I hope dating you doesn’t make me gain too much weight.” He patted what she could see of his flat stomach. Clearly he took care of himself.
They were dating now? A slow ribbon of pleasure curled around her.
“Weight gain,” she mused. “A natural side effect of being in a relationship.”
“True, but there are worse things than turning into a plump contented man in a relationship.”
“Such as?”
“Being single and skinny.” He mock shuddered and she laughed. “I mean, if you’re happy, that’s what’s important, right?” His hazel eyes held hers. They were nice eyes. Not probing or intense.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I suppose that’s true.”
For some reason a vision of North Callaghan’s hard body flashed across her mind. She couldn’t picture him ever being soft. Or being in a relationship, for that matter.
She mentally kicked herself. She did not want to be thinking about him right now when she was having a lovely dinner with a lovely man. He’d already intruded far too much in the course of the evening.
They shared an order of tiramisu and finished their bottle of wine. It wasn’t hurried. After wine, they ordered coffee and chatted. Still, mostly about work. There was a lot of intersection in their careers. He’d represented the city of Sweet Hill in several of her cases. Things in common. She should have loved that.
But after working all week, she almost wished they could talk about something else. Anything.
She brought up some of her favorite shows, but he didn’t watch much television.
“I know I shouldn’t, but I bring home a lot of my work with me at night.”
“That’s . . . admirable.” And a little disappointing, but maybe that would change if he had a girlfriend. Certainly, he wouldn’t do that if he had a wife and family. He would have other things, more important things, to occupy him. She stared at him across the table as though she could see into the future to whether or not he would be one of those men obsessed with his job to the point that he neglected his family.
It was close to ten by the time he drove her home.
She couldn’t stop herself from looking to see if her neighbor was home. North’s truck and bike were present when Brendan pulled his car in behind hers. He’d been home when Brendan picked her up earlier. It was a Saturday night. Surely he had things to do. Women to do . . .
Brendan walked around to get her door.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
He smiled and gestured for her to proceed ahead of him. Her heels clicked softly as she made her way to the front porch. At her door, she stopped. This was always the awkward part.
She motioned behind her. “Would you like a tour?” They had talked about her new house over dinner. He was aware that she was a first-time homeowner and she was excited about it.
Anyone else might read the invitation to come inside as an invitation, but she had been working with Brendan for a while now, and it felt more awkward not to make the offer. They were already friends and she would have issued the invitation to any friend.
“Sure. I’d love to.” He stepped inside behind her.
She dropped her purse on the kitchen table and led him through the house, relieved that she’d tidied up the place—not that she was much for clutter. He remarked kindly about her attempts at decorating. She thought her place looked nice and homey, with copper pots hanging in her kitchen, and an array of pillows on the couches and her bed. Still, she knew it wasn’t like something out of a magazine. She didn’t really have an eye for that kind of thing.
“Thanks. Decorating is not really my thing. I’ve started watching HGTV though. Trying to pick up some tips.”
It didn’t take long to show him around. They quickly covered the downstairs: living room, kitchen, office/guest bedroom. She showed him her yard, mentioning she wanted to plant a garden in the spring. Her mother had loved to garden and it was something she wanted to try her hand at.
Next, she showed him the upstairs: the master bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom was her favorite with both a shower and a large spa tub.
Fifteen minutes later they stood in her kitchen again. The first-date-saying-goodnight awkwardness she had been hoping to avoid crept in then.
Thankfully he took it as his cue to leave. “I guess I’ll get going.”