He pretended that it constituted two shots to the chest.
“Cheugy,” she said with a finger pointing at the table. “Cheu. Gy. Mi. Len. Ni. Al.”
“How did you know I was thirty-five?”
“Because none of you look like you’re still in your twenties, despite what you say.”
“I’ll have you know I’m only ten pounds heavier than in my frat days.”
“Do you think weight is the only thing that makes a man look older?”
“I’m not answering that. It’s entrapment.”
She laughed so hard that she almost knocked over her drink.
“Tomorrow,” Liam said, cutting into her laughter as it sputtered over the table. “I’ll take you out tomorrow night, assuming you’re available.”
Eden couldn’t reply until she had recollected her bearings, which meant swallowing some of her white mocha and pulling hair out of her mouth. “I am.”
“Great. How does dinner and drinks sound?”
“Take me somewhere I can wear a cheap dress,” she withdrew her phone from her jacket pocket and opened her contacts’ app, “and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
He looked like he had won a million dollars when she handed him her phone. The fact that he now held a dark purple case with a holographic flower stickered on the back only made him sexier as his big thumbs and nimble fingers played her screen like he had played her pussy a week ago.
“We’ll go to any kind of place you want.” His tongue slightly stuck out of his mouth as he concentrated on a typo he had just made. “Punk rock concert. High-end lounge.” He handed back her phone. “Big titty goth bar.”
“Yeah, you would be the type to want a big titty goth girlfriend.”
“Don’t suppose you…”
“Sorry.” She put her phone away, grabbed her mocha, and slipped out of her seat. “Not a goth.”
“And I already know about the—”
She covered his mouth with her hand. It wasn’t until she was two feet away that she had to pull her hand back and instead twiddle her fingers as she swung her hips out of the coffee shop.
Just like that, Eden Hailstone had two dates lined up. She couldn’t wait for either.
Chapter 6
Benson
He almost couldn’t believe that she actually showed up. Was that weird to think? Because while Benson Smith was not a man used to being stood up by women, it wasn’t unheard of. Especially if there was history. Awkward history.
Like that time he told an ex that her favorite color, metallic blue, was not flattering on her figure.
Or that time he introduced a date to his partners by calling her the wrong name.
I’m not perfect.He wasn’t even counting the dates who lost interest in him when they found out he had a daughter. Those were a lost cause from the beginning. Granted, now that Drew had grown up and was taking care of herself, most potential long-term partners didn’t care. Benson was “mature.” If anything, his daughter loving him so much made him hotter on the market.
No, he wasn’t perfect. But he had convinced this woman to go on at least one date with him, and he wasn’t about to blow it.
He expected her to be tense like before, but Eden was surprisingly… relaxed. She met him in the restaurant lobby with a confident gait that strutted straight from her Uber, her heavy winter coat hanging off her shoulders as she bravely faced the freezing winter night in heels and a dark pink dress that hugged her every curve. Although it was the most covered he had ever seen her, Benson couldn’t stop staring – Eden was the very image of a goddess bedecking the cityscape.
And he was the lucky bastard to go out with her.
“I had no idea this place was so nice.” She had the seat against the wall while Benson sat in the chair across from her. A candle flickered between them, and their waiter, a man Benson recognized as the owner’s nephew, rattled off the specials before leaving them with their menus. Benson had ordered them both drinks and already knew what he wanted, but Eden said she had never been here before and wanted to look over things. “I’ve walked by tons of times but never once thought about coming inside. Don’t know why.”