"I think you do. Even though you're a virgin."
I nod. "Yeah. I was waiting for…" I swallow. "I was waiting to be swept off my feet."
He smirks. "Fuck. You are perfect, aren't you?"
"Not exactly. I was just waiting for my fairy tale."
"Your storybook ending, huh?" He shakes his head. "What is Helena doing to me?"
He says her name so causally, it makes me wonder how close they are. "You know her pretty well?" I ask, smoothing down my hair, straightening my dress, trying to steady myself. He wants to eat me out.
"Yeah. I've known her a long time. When I called her today looking for a date–”
“Today?” I pull back in surprise. “You just started working with her today?” My eyes narrow, concerned.
He backtracks. "Well, I wanted to come to dinner and I thought, well, I figured she could probably set me up with someone who would be pretty compatible with me. And..."
"Right,” I say. Frustrated once again with myself for getting caught up in this, him. "This doesn't mean anything to you. I forgot and I got swept away by…” I run my fingers in a circle, pointing at his whole package, “that situation," I say, pointing to his groin, “and that situation," I say, circling his face, “and that situation," I say, circling his chest. "You're incredibly sexy and handsome and charming and “successful” and I was distracted. I'm serious about this matchmaking service. I want a partner, a person, my person, my forever. I want the whole nine yards. I want more than a dinner date." I groan. "I shouldn't have done any of this. I'm sorry," I say, pulling my phone out of my purse. "I'll get a car back to my place and you can..."
"No," he says. "Please, I called Helena today for a dinner date and she said she had the perfect person for me. She said you were the one for me. You trust her, right? You think she'd put you on?"
"No," I say slowly. "I don't."
“Well, she must have thought you really were the right person for me."
"You must really want to eat here.”
Truett grins. “Have you read the reviews in the LA Times?"
I roll my eyes. "Of course, I have. Everybody's been talking about this restaurant. But I spent my entire life savings signing up for the matchmaking service. And I don’t want to waste my time. There are two other matches who might actually like me, might actually want to get to know me."
"I'm sorry," he says. "I don't think Helena would have done this if she didn't think there was potential. And look, I'll pay you back that money. Not because I'm paying you off or paying you for that kiss. I wanted to kiss you. I want to do more with you. I mean it, I really mean it," he says, looking at me with intensity, with a fire, with a need I understand.
"Look, let's do dinner, if they'll give us a table after we do their pre-interview or whatever, and I'll give you the ten grand back. That was a shitty thing for me to do. And if Helena was going along with it, then she owes you one. But hey, let's just go out one night. All right?"
I look Truett over. He doesn’t give me any red flags and no alarm bells are ringing. Also, he is incredible handsome, and makes me laugh, and feel good. When was the last time a man made me feel this way? And if he is going to cover the fee I paid Seeking Curves, then really, all this costs me is a night with a sexy man who makes me hot and bothered in a way I crave.
"Okay," I say, a smile spreading across my face. "I mean, we're already here and I am pretty hungry."
"Good," he says. “Because Helena thought you were the one for me. My perfect pair."
I swallow, wanting to believe he's right, wondering if he could be my match. If he could be more than a random date.
He takes my hand and leans in. This time, he doesn't kiss my lips. He kisses my forehead, then the tip of my nose. "Birthday cake," he says. And in my ear, he whispers, "I wonder if it's how you taste too."
Right then I melt.
Right then I know I'm going to enjoy this night, every last minute of it.
7
Truett
The moment we head into the restaurant, my heart starts to pound.
"Are you okay?" Story asks, leaning in, whispering in my ear, her breath warm, her body next to mine, calming me instantly.
How does this woman I've just met have that power over me? I don't know, but I'm grateful for it. I haven't been in LA for a long time. I don't leave Big Bear really ever, except for when I go to Colorado to see my parents and, well, they live in the mountains too, in the Rockies.