“Well, I assume they’re flirty dresses and high heels.” Her cheeks turned rosy. “But I’m not one hundred percent sure. I’ve never been on a date.”
I lifted my nose a little so I could stare down at her. “Stop lying.”
“I never lie. I don’t need to.” She adjusted her handbag.
“Now I know you’re lying.” But when I looked at her face, I saw the utter truth in her gaze. Shelly had never been on a date. And she didn’t tell lies. She didn’t need to. “Are you serious?” I finally asked.
“About which question?” The vee between her brows deepened the way it did when she was confused.
Shelly was a beautiful woman. She was stunning, actually. She was take-your-breath-away beautiful. While we’d been walking through the mall, men had been gawking the whole time, and she was just wearing her customary pencil shirt, a simple blouse, and her strand of pearls. She drew attention everywhere she went. How could no one have ever taken her out on a date?
She started toward the food court and I followed, in awe of the elegant way she walked in her four-inch high heels, which she almost always wore.
“Are all the men around you blind?” I asked. “Or just stupid?”
She stopped walking. “What?”
“You are stunning, Shelly,” I said quietly. Her eyes darted left and right, like she was trying to find a place to set her gaze, and she didn’t want it to be on me. “Sometimes you take my breath away.”
“Is this something a boyfriend would do?” she whispered at me, confusion still marring her face.
I shrugged. “Maybe.” I stared at her startled face. “No man has ever asked you out?”
“I’ve been asked. I’ve just never said yes.”
“Why have you never said yes?”
“Because dates lead to emotional intimacy, and I don’t have time for that.”
Stunned, I repeated: “You don’t have time for emotional intimacy.”
“I have a very busy life. Until recently, I spent most of my time taking care of Lynn.”
“And now that Lynn is fine?”
She started to tick items off on her fingers. “I teach self-defense. I give lessons at the gun range. I take a cooking class sometimes. I like to make glass.”
“Glass?”
“Blown glass,” she said and waved a hand to dismiss my questions. “It’s a process.”
I grinned at her. “You’re going to run out of fingers.”
“I stay busy.”
“And when you want companionship?” I watched her face closely now, hoping to catch a glimpse of the truth.
“Why would I want that?” She snorted, and it was the cutest damn sound I’d ever heard.
“Friendship. Someone to spend time with.” I waited a beat. “Sex…”
“I don’t need friends.” She gave a small shiver that I was sure she didn’t even notice. “And sex is easy. And useful.”
I stopped walking and she stopped too, turning back to find out why I’d stopped our forward trajectory. “You find sex to be useful,” I repeated.
“Orgasms lower your blood pressure. And sex can sometimes be used to make people more pliable.” She motioned for me to walk with her again.
I scrubbed a hand across my forehead instead and stood there staring at her.