“I can’t. I’m still here.” At the first sound of laughter coming through the phone, she ended the call, then shoved it into the drawer that held the bank deposits, slamming it closed with a loud thud.
“Damn,” a snide voice drawled out. “So, the shady motherfucker was Dalton Andrews?”
“Crazy Bitch, go fuck yourself.”
13
T.A. took off her black teddy coat before sliding into the booth as Dalton waited until she was seated before sliding onto the seat opposite from hers.
Nervously, she folded her hands over each other on the table. “You could have sat next to me. I don’t bite.” Grinning, she tried to relax by leaning back on the high back of the booth. “At least on the first date.”
Dalton’s eyes shifted away from hers. The delight she had felt when she opened her apartment door to see him standing outside was waning. Dalton looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here with her.
T.A. grabbed her coat to stand up. “When our number is called, just tell them to pack it to go. I’d rather eat my food at my apartment with Manson for company than stay here and eat it with someone who doesn’t want to be here.”
Dalton got out of the booth to grasp her arm when she would have walked away.
“I want to be here. Stay.”
Undecided, she stared up at him.
“Please.”
She sat back down as their number was called. She used the brief opportunity to store up her flagging confidence. The a-hole was lucky he was eating at Charlie’s instead of being stuck at Sex Piston’s parents’ house, eating the meal her mother had prepared. Sizzle couldn’t cook a decent meal without having one of her guests have to call nine-one-one to save them from having to eat it.
Charlie’s might be a hole-in-the-wall restaurant only the locals knew about, but it had the best hamburgers and rib sandwich in the state.
The sight of the double hamburger and fries restored the rest of her good mood. Reaching for the ketchup, T.A. sent a withering glance as Dalton removed his lonely grilled chicken sandwich from the tray.
T.A. reached for the mustard to add extra on her burger. “I bring you to the best hamburger joint in Kentucky, and you order the worst thing on the menu. It’s going to taste like cardboard,” she said, lifting her burger to her lips to take a bite.
“I don’t eat red meat.”
She nearly choked on the food in her mouth. Carefully, she placed her burger back down. Waiting until she swallowed her bite, she glared at him across the table.
“That would have been good to know when I suggested Charlie’s.”
“I’m flexible.”
She swallowed hard when his pearly whites sank into his sandwich.
“God, I hope so.”
Smiling at his burst of laughter, she started eating her fries. Pointing one at him, she asked. “What do you have against fries?”
“I don’t eat greasy foods either.”
The dancing glints in his eyes had her wanting to lean across the table and kiss him. Controlling herself, she ate another fry.
“You don’t look like a man who needs to worry about his cholesterol.”
“I don’t, which is why I don’t eat red meat or fried food.”
She picked up another fry. Leaning forward, she waved it in front of his mouth.
“Aren’t you tempted to be bad?” she joked.
Dalton grabbed her wrist, holding it still. “Constantly.”
Her fingers shook when he drew the fry closer to his mouth. Their eyes met as he opened it, letting his lips take the fry from her fingertips.
He slowly let her wrist go. She had to give him props for turning the table on her. When she picked up another fry, she had to clear her throat before she could offer him another one.
“No thanks. I’m good. Unless that’s another breach of southern hospitality?”
T.A. felt the red climbing up the neckline of her gray and black turtleneck sweater.
“I could have lived without you bringing that up.”
Dalton smiled. “It was too funny to pass on mentioning it. How upset were you when you realized I was still on the line?”
She gave him a chiding sniff that had him chuckling.
“It wasn’t my finest moment. There I had you in the palm of my hand, practically begging for a date, and you ruined it by not hanging up when you were supposed to.”
“I wasn’t the one who didn’t hang up,” he chided her back. “Why did you tell them I was a telemarketer?”
“I don’t know. Stupidity, I guess.” She shrugged.
“You’re anything but stupid. Tell me.”
“I didn’t know if you wanted me to tell them. You stayed with the Last Riders, and they don’t exactly like most of my friends. I also didn’t know if you wanted it known by Dax and Grace that you had called me.”
“Obviously, Dax gave me your number, so it was a given that he would know I would be talking to you.”