“It’s not from the moment we met,” she said. “I’m going to consider the diner, though. I didn’t like you then, so I’m not sure it’ll count.”
“When did you start liking me?”
“You know what? I’m not sure.”
Dawson ground his voice through his throat. “I’d like to go on the official record and say I’ve always liked you.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” She clapped her hands on her lap. “That is not true. You didn’t even speak a word to me during that diner breakfast.” Shegave a mirthless laugh. “That is so not counting as our first date. We didn’t even speak to one another.”
“You seemed like you didn’t want to talk,” he said.
“I didn’t.”
“So I was respecting your wishes.” He threw her a grin, but she sat there open-mouthed, staring at him.
“You did not like me when we met.”
“I thought you were beautiful,” he said.
“So not the same.”
“You badgered me about bogus paperwork.”
She couldn’t even argue, and Dawson was enough of a gentleman not to throw it in her face. “The moment those owls appeared, I filled out your paperwork. I complied with the law.”
“I know you did,” Caroline said quietly. “Maybe that’s when I started liking you.”
“Mm, I think sooner,” he said, his tone thoughtful, making her wonder what he was really thinking. “You didn’t badger Link or Finn about their paperwork. Or Brit Bellamore. No one but me.”
He looked over to her, those sexy eyes devouring her like so much aquamarine water. She couldn’t argue this point either, because she hadn’t cared if anyone else filed their paperwork. Only him.
She shrugged one shoulder, hoping to play this down a little. “Okay, maybe I liked you a little bit at some point before New Year’s.”
“You sure didn’t act like it.”
“I was never going to date again.”
“Ah, another rule.”
“One I broke, I’ll have you know.”
“Obviously.” Dawson chuckled and reached for her hand. She loved the tingle his touch gave her, especially when he brushed his thumb over the back of her hand a couple of times. “So tell me, Miss Thompson. What other rules of yours do I need to start thinking about breaking?”
Oh, Caroline had opened a can of worms now, and she blinked and breathed, trying to find an answer that wouldn’t blow open everything she’d been trying to contain…at least for now.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dawson hadn’t realized how loaded his question had been until Caroline didn’t answer it with one of her snappy comebacks. “Let’s start with something easier,” he said, making the last turn that would get him to their dinner reservation. “When’s your birthday?”
The woman wanted special, Dawson knew. She hadn’t come out and said so, but the need for it pulsed in his heartstrings. He had a feeling she had spent most of her first marriage as an invisible identity, and she simply wanted to be seen, acknowledged, cherished, and loved.
“May tenth,” she said.
“Brandon’s birthday is in May,” Dawson said. “Twenty-third.” He gave her a smile. “Mine’s in October, so we’ve got a ways to go to get to that one.”
“What day?” She picked up her phone, like perhapsshe’d type in the date. Like they’d still be together in eight months’ time.
“The second,” he said. “I’m glad it’s at the beginning of the month, though the stores do bring out Halloween about mid-August these days.”