Brody laughed. “Not yesterday. I ran a background check on you about a week before you even interviewed. Yesterday was merely a query to soothe my curiosity about you.”
Sam stiffened slightly in her seat. How much did he know about her? Would her mistake with Luke show up in his file? It was a little unnerving to think about someone digging up every detail of her life from her credit score to her favorite foods. “You know, normal guys take a woman on a date and then ask her questions if they’re curious. Running a background check is creepy.”
“Creepy? Really?” He shrugged. “I see it as practical. Your way seems inefficient to me. The information I can find on my own is far more detailed and likely accurate than what I might get in person.”
“Accurate? You think I’d lie to you about what kind of Chinese food I liked?”
“That’s a bad example, but you could say you liked something you didn’t just to be nice.”
“But asking someone questions when you’re on a date is more fun. And the street runs both directions,” she added. “They get to know things about you, too.” It would never occur to her to look on Google for information about Brody. Even if she didn’t know there was nothing to find.
“As you can imagine, I don’t date much. I’m far more comfortable with computers.”
Sam set down her plate and leaned into Brody. “Do I make you uncomfortable?”
Brody swallowed hard, the thick cords in his neck moving up and down. He nodded. “A little. I’m not that good with people. Especially face-to-face.”
Sam was such a people person, she could hardly imagine living a secluded life like his. By the age of two, she was chatting up strangers in grocery stores and making friends with every kid on the playground. To her, computers were the complicated and unreasonable ones. “Well, the best way to improve is to practice. The more you’re around me, the more comfortable you’ll be.”
His dark blue eyes focused on her for a moment, and then he shook his head. “You say that, but I don’t find that to be entirely true. At least, with you.”
Sam knew exactly what he meant. The more she was around Brody, the more restless and intrigued she became. He didn’t think or react the way most men did. Everything he did was so calculated. Even when they kissed, she could tell he was stuck in his own head. He seemed to overthink everything, hesitating when he wasn’t sure of the right course.
In a way, he reminded her of the boys in junior high who couldn’t decide if they wanted to kiss the girls or yank their ponytail. If a girl they liked actually spoke to them, they’d totally freeze up. Only this boy was thirty, in an expensive suit and had shoulders as broad as a Greek statue.
“That’s normal,” she admitted, “when you’re getting to know someone new. Especially if you like them.”
Brody diverted his eyes quickly back to his food, silently chewing and pondering her words. Sam did the same. She was nearly finished when he spoke again.
“I do like you, Sam. Would you be interested in having dinner with me tomorrow night, as well?”
Sam looked up from her plate of chicken and rice with surprise. More overtime? Well, she supposed she could put it into the bank in case it took a while to come across another job. Or she could get that new leather bag she’d drooled over in the window display at Saks Fifth Avenue. “Okay. What time do I need to be here?”
“Here?” Brody frowned and then nodded when he understood his mistake. “I’m not asking you to work over the weekend, Sam. I’m asking you to have dinner with me tomorrow night. A real date, like you suggested.”
Had she suggested a date? “You said earlier that you don’t go out to dinner.” It was a stupid response, but it was the first thing that came to her mind.
Brody smiled. “I don’t. That’s why I’d like you to join me for dinner at my house.”
Five
“I should’ve said no. What was I thinking? I should’ve told him I had plans.”
Sam sat muttering to herself in the back of the town car Brody sent to pick her up. The man behind the wheel paid no attention to her neurotic rambling. He’d hardly even spoken. He’d knocked on her door, introduced himself as her driver, Dave, and escorted her to the car. She told Brody she could drive herself, but he insisted it was difficult to find his house. To be honest, she’d never been in this area, so it was a good call. But that didn’t mean she had to like it.