“So you’re on a sex diet?”
“It feels that way. Not self-imposed, I might add. I just haven’t met any decent guys lately, but all that is going to change.”
“It is?”
“Definitely.” She diced the peppers. “It’s Christmas. I’m going to get out and meet people. Party, party, party.”
“Where are these parties?”
“My friends have invited me along to a few.”
“You don’t sound enthusiastic.”
She put the knife down. “Honestly? It feels a little… awkward. Like online dating. I don’t really want to be fixed up. It’s like social media. You only get to see someone’s best side.”
“So you admit that people aren’t always as they seem.”
“You make it sound sinister, like a great big cover-up, but on social media it’s just people trying to present the best of who they are.”
“And you then ask yourself what the worst part is.”
“Everyone has flaws,” she said mildly. “It wouldn’t be realistic to expect a person to be perfect, would it?”
“What are your flaws?” It would be like one of those interview questions, he thought, where the candidate was asked to name a weakness and they went with the classic “I work too hard” or “I care too much.” No one voluntarily revealed their real flaws to strangers.
“I’m horribly untidy, apart from in the kitchen. I drop things where I stand and then I lose things and make an even bigger mess trying to find them. I’m truly terrible in the mornings and I’m generally a bit cowardly,” she admitted. “I’m not good with scary stuff—blood, gore, menacing threats, things that go bump in the night.”
He absorbed that, filing away the details. “I would have said your flaw was being too trusting.”
“I don’t see that as a flaw.” She rinsed the knife. “It’s hard to get close to people and have fulfilling friendships if you always suspect people are hiding things from you. That’s probably your biggest flaw, isn’t it? Not trusting enough.”
“I would have said that’s one of my good qualities. So when you tried online dating, what did you write on your dating profile?”
“I didn’t write desperate, trusting blonde seeks wild sex, if that’s what you’re asking.” She opened the oven and gave the tray of tomatoes a little shake. “In the end online dating didn’t work for me. I need to be able to see someone in person to know if they’re okay. I have good instincts. And although it’s a perfectly valid way to meet people, especially in today’s busy world, I would prefer to meet someone organically.”
“You want an organic orgasm?”
She laughed. “That’s the goal. And everyone needs a goal, don’t you think? It’s fine. I’m not going to meet anyone if I hide away inside my apartment, so I’m determined to get out. That’s the first step. I want to go on a few dates.”
“So you don’t want to go straight for the orgasm and cut out the in-between stage?”
“No.” She closed the oven. “I can’t go to bed with someone I don’t know. I’ve never had a one-night stand. For me, sex is tied up with caring about someone.”
“You don’t hold much back, do you?”
“No. I’m not what you might call a mystery. I’m pretty much an open book—Jake says I’m an audio book, because everything I’m thinking comes out of my mouth.”
The description made him smile. “Who is Jake?”
“Paige’s fiancé. And now that’s enough questions about me. What’s your favorite food of all time?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Everyone has a favorite food. Either something that is delicious, or something that’s associated with a wonderful happy memory. What were your favorites when you were a child? Something that takes you right back there and brings back all the warm feelings.”
He thought back to family gatherings and his travels through Europe. “I enjoy good cheese. Particularly with the right wine. It was one of the benefits of my French book tour.”
“Is that where you bought all that wine?”