Then the waitress joined them, chatting away about what a lovely evening it was and could she tempt them with some fresh bread, which of course she could. She took their drink orders, then disappeared again.
“Maybe we can be friends.”
Stone’s words surprised Carly. “Friends?”
He reached across the table and took her hand. “Let’s be friends. I get the impression you could use one.”
His hand was warm around hers, but not warm enough to explain the fire moving through her body.
Fire that wasn’t friendly.
Not by a long shot.
A flashback of him talking with Mrs. Kim, of how comforting his voice had been, how the woman’s expression had eased, how they’d both ended up laughing, struck Carly.
Maybe Stone was right.
Maybe she did need a friend.
She’d had friends during college, but she’d put everything on hold to take care of her mother and work. Slowly, one by one, friends had faded away. Now, Carly had her co-workers, Joyce, and her mother.
“You want to be my friend?” The possibility didn’t seem feasible. Why would he want to be her friend? Especially when she had little to offer a friendship?
“Let’s be clear,” he clarified, clasping her hand more firmly. “I want to be your lover.”
Oh, God, had he really just said he wanted to be her lover?
“But I’ll take being your friend if that’s what you’re willing to give.”
CHAPTER FIVE
CARLY GULPED. HER LOVER. She hadn’t been kissed in years, hadn’t been touched in years.
Until meeting Stone she hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed having someone touch her, want her.
Crazy. That was how Stone made her feel. Absolutely crazy.
“I’m not a very good friend,” she admitted. She probably hadn’t been a very good lover, either, but he didn’t need to know that.
The waitress set their drinks on the table, then a basket of fresh bread.
When she was gone, he asked, “How so?”
“Friends require spending time together. I don’t have time. As tempting as the idea of having someone in my life is, it simply won’t work. To even try means robbing time from somewhere where I don’t have time to spare. No matter how we sugar-coat the facts, they are still the facts. Tonight is an aberration that can’t happen again.”
He squeezed her hand. “No more serious talk. If tonight is an aberration, then let’s make the most of it. What would you like for dinner?”
Glancing at the menu, her gaze landed on her favorite. Her mouth watered just at seeing the description. “The parmesan-crusted chicken is amazing.”
His gaze lifted from the menu. “After your recommendation, I’ve come here a time or two, but haven’t tried that yet.”
“You should,” she encouraged, hoping the amazingness of the dish hadn’t been one of the things to change over the past five years, too. “Or you can get something different and I’ll share my chicken.”
Stone’s smile set the butterflies back into motion in her belly.
“Deal.”
* * *
Satisfied from the delicious meal, Stone stared across the table at the woman who fascinated him more and more. “So did your dad leave before or after you were born?”
Not immediately answering, she frowned. “I thought we weren’t having any more serious conversation.”
“We’re not. At least not along the lines of our earlier conversation,” he clarified, not wanting the relaxed atmosphere between them to dissipate. “Feel free to say pass on anything you don’t want to answer.”
He watched the play of emotions flash across her face and expected to hear, “Pass.” Instead, she took a sip of her water, then gave a real answer.
“My dad wasn’t ever in the picture,” she began. “How did you know?”
“The lack of photos of him in the living room. There were lots of you, some of you and who I assume is your mother, and one of you with your mother and an older couple. Grandparents?”
She nodded. “He and my mother were never married. They lived together for a short while, before she moved back in with my grandparents, the house where we still live, actually. He was a construction worker and only stayed in an area long enough to finish the job. Then he would move to the next place, which is exactly what he did. I’m not sure if he offered to take my mother, but she stayed in Memphis. A month or so after he’d left, she discovered she was pregnant, and let him know. He told her he was sorry, sent money for an abortion. As far as I know, he has no clue that was never an option for her.”
Amazed that Carly had revealed so much when he generally had to push for the tiniest tidbit of personal information, Stone reached for her hand, again. Raw emotions tossed his stomach’s contents like a tumultuous sea at the feel of her small hand tucked beneath his.