“Hey,” she said, pursing her lips against her smile at his compliment. “I thought this was a no-strings-attached dinner.” Marc’s awkwardness and the way he laughed at himself about it had been part of what had put her at ease originally. But Gary never took no for an answer, and she needed to make sure Marc did, even if it was just dinner.
“What?” His eyes crossed in confusion for a brief second before realization dawned. “Oh, the compliments. Men in this town must operate under different rules from what I was taught if compliments mean more than what they are at face value. You’re pretty. I like your company. I invited you to dinner for the latter, but the former doesn’t hurt. But all I want is someone to talk to. I’ve been driving alone for a while.”
“Okay.” She shook her head, more at herself than at him. “It’s been a rough night and a long day. I’m not normally so suspicious.”
“None of us are at our best when we’re tired, and you seemed exhausted even this morning. If it makes you more comfortable and more willing to keep me company, be as suspicious as you like. I’ll be over here, keeping my hands to myself.” He was smiling, and the light in his eyes was both sympathetic and friendly.
Maybe she really could trust him. Maybe he was exactly who he claimed to be and would be and do what he said he would.
There weren’t many people in her life she could say that about.
The waitress came to take their order then. Selina ordered pork egg foo young—her favorite—and Marc ordered chow mein and pork and seeds.
“I’m curious about those pork and seeds,” he said after the waitress left.
“I’m guessing it’s not authentic if you’ve never had any.”
He waved her off. “Or maybe it’s incredibly authentic, which is why you can only get it at this restaurant.”
She laughed, pleased with the way he turned her inexperience back to compliment her. “Not just here. It’s an Idaho Chinese-food specialty. You can get pork and seeds at Costco.”
“Nothing more authentic than that.” His gentle teasing put a smile in his tone, even though he’d said the words with a straight face.
“You can comment on their authenticity after you eat them.”
She was smiling so much her cheeks hurt. Marc was better than a distraction. Even though she still didn’t know where she was sleeping tonight, she was actually enjoying herself, which she wouldn’t have thought possible an hour ago.
“Fair,” he said, inclining his head.
The waitress came back almost immediately with the appetizer. Marc stared for a moment before laughing. He had a nice, cheerful laugh. Even with his uncertainty about the pork and seeds, there was no indication that he was laughing at her or at Idaho’s regional variations on Chinese food. Instead, like her, he was facing change in his life and the joy of a simple pleasure was a welcome relief.
It had been a long time since Selina could say she’d felt joy in life, and Marc’s was contagious.
“It’s literally pork and seeds,” he said, a smile beaming across his face.
“That’s what I said,” she pointed out on a laugh, picking up a thin slice of pork, its exterior pink—from being smoked, she always assumed, but food coloring was just as likely. “Watch me. You dip it in the mustard, then in the seeds, and it’s delicious. Authenticity be damned.”
Marc followed her lead and tried a bite. “This is good. And here I was thinking dinner with you couldn’t get any better.”
She raised a brow at him. “Do you have a stock set of lines you use on women?”
“Only the pretty ones,” he said with a wink that magically made him seem both goofier and cuter at the same time.
Maybe it was because she was tired. Or maybe it was the pleasure streaming through her veins that she hadn’t felt in what seemed like years. Or maybe it was the way he pursed his lips when he’d spoken, as though he hadn’t thought he was going to get away with it. Whatever it was, she couldn’t help laughing.
He grinned. “They don’t usually work so well. Actually, they usually fail and I end up stumbling over my tongue like an ass. But if you keep smiling, I’ll keep spouting them.”
His face went suddenly serious. “I mean them, though. In case you had any doubts . . . I mean every word I say to you. The past couple months have been a series of ups and downs for me. They’ve been mostly ups, really, but I’m feeling a bit lost with myself right now. I’m still floundering around in my life and in my head, but in that diner, I found you, and I can tell that you are worth knowing.”
Her heart fluttered. Actually fluttered in her chest and made her cough. Though the cough might have been from embarrassment. The rush running through her body was a mix of pleasure and embarrassment. Both feelings could be equally responsible for anything from the odd feeling in her heart, to the cough, to the flush creeping up her neck.
“How was the museum?” she asked, not sure she wanted to acknowledge what he’d said.