“Middle Branch Park.”
“Four or eight person?”
“Four.” I rowed as part of a four-person boat, each person with their own oar. “Do you row?” I was impressed by his knowledge of the sport, although he’d asked the most basic of questions. Bob/Bill would have assumed I rowed a canoe like Pocahontas.
“Not coordinated enough. I’d overturn the shell.” He referred to the special boat we used by its correct name. “You’re a morning person then.”
“I like to see the sun rise when I’m on the water.” The way the sky turned from black to gray to pink and then blue, watching the birds and the city wake up was remarkable.
“I can understand that. I run at six almost every morning. I like the quiet.” Was that why he drove those guys off, because they were too loud?
Something settled inside me. He liked the quiet.
“You…you understand then,” I replied, my voice soft. I was pleased, thrilled even and a little spurt of pleasure coursed through me.
The corner of his mouth turned up but he didn’t say anything, only kept looking at me. Now, when his eyes held mine, I wasn’t nervous, I was…intrigued.
“I play rugby on Sundays with a club, just for fun. It’s not overly competitive, especially since there are a bunch of us older guys out there.”
Older guys? He couldn’t be much older than me. Maybe forty or so. I doubted he had trouble keeping up with the younger guys, especially if he was a trainer. He looked more than fit to hold his own.
“The game is at eleven,” he continued. “I’d like it if you came.”
He was asking me out? My mouth fell open and I didn’t know what to say. He held up a hand. “Don’t panic, it’s not a date.”
My heart fluttered at the invitation nonetheless. I arched a brow. “Really? Is this how you ask all the girls out?”
“Girls? Like the ones inside?”
I could only nod.
“I want you…to come to my game. Not as a date, because I imagine if I asked you out right now you might bolt. As I said, I don’t want you scared of me.” When I opened my mouth once again to speak, he put a finger over my lips. The touch was warm and gentle and I could do nothing more than feel the tingle of it all the way to my toes.
“Or nervous. Trust me, Emory, when I ask you out, you’ll know it.”
He’d said when, not if.
“I just want to see you again.” While I was still processing that, he dropped his hand and continued. “Think of it as a coincidence, both of us being at Rifkin Park at the same time.”
“You really…?”
He cut me off with one simple word. “Yes.”
Those butterflies, bees, no, hornets were back in my stomach. He wanted me to show up, otherwise he wouldn’t have offered. He was leaving the decision to do so completely up to me, clearly aware of how nervous I was. Once again he was setting me at ease in the hopes I’d show up. I had until Sunday morning to decide what I wanted to do. From the brief time he knew me, he’d learned I had to make a weighted, safe choice.
While we’d been talking, the sun had set completely. Besides little white lights strung along the railing, the only light illuminating us was from the bar. Gray’s face was in harsh contrast, his gaze darker and more intent. He looked like a guy you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley, but I felt…safe with him. I hadn’t had to pretend or fake a conversation, it just happened, even sticking my foot in my mouth. He’d set me at ease and it turned out we had a lot in common. I also found him hot as hell.
“No need to be nervous then,” I replied, poking fun at myself.
“Nope.” He smiled warmly, easily. His gaze dipped to my mouth.
“I…I should get going. It was nice meeting you, Gray, but I’m meeting my group to row at five thirty.”
I stood, although the legs of my chair didn’t scrape against the concrete. He stood as well and I had to tilt my head back to look at him. “I don’t want you walking to your car by yourself, so let me walk you.”
“Thank you. I would have taken you up on the offer, truly, but I valeted it.”
He laughed easily. “Of course, you did.”