After the Kiss (Sex, Love & Stiletto 1)

“Says who? Where is it written that there’s some sort of time limit on happiness?”

“Well, have you ever been able to sustain constant happiness in your relationships? Surely you’ve experienced moments of frustration or anger or boredom once you’ve moved past the puppy love stage.”

Julie felt the color drain from her face. His words hit way too close to home. And even more alarming was the fact that she’d gotten so wrapped up in their conversation that she’d forgotten her purpose. This wasn’t meant to be a bantering session. Reel him in.

&n

bsp; “Are you okay?” he asked with a frown.

“Actually, I’m pretty hungry,” she said, clamoring for a distraction. “Do you think we could order some food?”

“Sure.” He stood and walked to the other end of the bar to get the bartender’s attention, since it wasn’t exactly a table service kind of place. She was grateful for the reprieve to gather herself. What had she been thinking, bragging about how she was the queen of dating? The last thing she needed was to call attention to how she put personal experiences into her stories. She needed him to forget she was a journalist—she shouldn’t wave it in his face like a big red flag.

She took a bracing sip of beer, trying to calm her jitters. Julie couldn’t remember ever forgetting herself so easily on a first date. She wasn’t entirely sure she liked the feeling.

“Here,” Mitchell said, returning to the table. He plunked a glass of white wine in front of her.

“What’s this?”

“Pinot grigio. Don’t even pretend you’re enjoying your Guinness.”

She gave him a cautious glance. He was observant. That did not bode well for her purposes. “Thanks, but I don’t want to waste the beer.…”

Mitchell shrugged. “So I’ll drink it.”

He slid her barely touched glass of beer toward him as he drained the rest of his own glass. Julie tried not to gape. He was finishing her beer as if it was the most natural thing in the world to clean up her leftovers.

Get it together—it’s not that big a deal. She’d shared food and drinks with plenty of guys over the years.

But not on the first date. And never so casually.

This had been no teasing offer of a bite of dessert, and there’d been no suggestive whisper that he should finish her drink because she was feeling tipsy. She’d played all those cards before, but not tonight.

Mitchell just acted as if it was his right. As though it was one of many drinks he’d be finishing for her. It felt strangely, uncomfortably natural. What the hell is going on here?

“Well, thank you,” she said stiffly.

“No problem. Although fair warning—the wine is probably crap. This is more of a beer and whisky place.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” she said, with a pointed glance at the dozens of Guinness and Jamison signs covering every square inch of wall space. “Super classy, though. You bring all your girls here?”

“Nah,” he said, mostly to himself. “I brought Evelyn once. Didn’t go over well.”

“Ex-girlfriend?”

“Yup.” His eyes had shut down. Apparently that wasn’t open for discussion.

“Forbes!” the bartender called. “Order up.”

Julie took a thoughtful sip of her wine as Mitchell went to retrieve their food. He was apparently a regular here, which seemed odd. It didn’t seem to be his type of place. Yet another warning sign that this man wasn’t exactly shaping up to be the predictable drone she’d expected.

“Yum,” she said as he slid a plate of steaming fish and chips in front of her. “This was definitely a better choice than the salad.”

Too late, she glanced at his plate. Whoops. Cranberry turkey salad.

“Don’t worry, I’ll save you a bite,” he said, digging in.

“I can’t say the same,” she said as she dunked a crispy fry in deliciously rich tartar sauce. “How bad do you think this is for me?”