So, fine. Whatever. Maybe it did.
For some lucky men. But if he’d learned anything in his life, it was that Henry wasn’t so lucky.
He’d survived his thirty-four years without a broken heart because he hadn’t allowed himself the luxury of investing in a relationship that lasted longer than a baseball season.
It was safer. Easier. Less painful.
He wasn’t necessarily writing off the Valeries of the world. But maybe, for now, he needed a little more time to himself to figure out exactly what he wanted.
And what he was willing to risk.
Chapter Fourteen
Benny had managed to swallow enough wasabi-drowned sushi to convince Luke that she’d enjoyed her meal nearly as much as he had. Even if her stomach was now at odds with its contents and she was trying to appease the uprising by downing lots of water.
“…the people of Sudan were so welcoming and the work so rewarding, I couldn’t help but sign on another year. You really would enjoy it, too…” Luke was going on after she’d pressed him for details about his work through Doctors Without Borders. He hadn’t stopped talking for a good five-minute stretch at least, so enthralled with his topic.
This was what Henry had encouraged. An open ear, letting Luke do all the talking because men liked nothing more than to hear themselves speak about themselves—provided one showed sufficient interest. Her nodding and smiling must have been all the encouragement Luke had needed to warm to his subject and then some.
Even if Benny was a little bored.
“You haven’t touched the sashimi,” he said and pointed to three pieces of obviously raw fish that she’d been hoping to avoid. At least with the rice and cucumbers in the sushi roll, she could almost forget she was eating raw fish. But the limp, slimy pieces would offer no such distraction.
“Come on. You’ve got to at least try one. Here.” He reached across and, with his chopsticks, clamped one of the pieces and held it up to her mouth. “This is the salmon, and I promise you won’t be disappointed.”
Really? What choice did she have here?
Reluctantly, she opened her mouth, trying not to feel self-conscious at the fact that Luke Seeley was feeding her, looking into her mouth right now.
She hoped she didn’t have any food stuck on her tongue or teeth.
He pulled the chopsticks back, leaving a fat, slimy piece of cold fish in her mouth. He smiled encouragingly at her. “And?”
Unlike many things that tasted better than they actually looked, this wasn’t one of them. It had looked like a thick pink slug—and eating it was even worse. Like eating an extra-salty fish-flavored slug.
She wouldn’t lose it. No, she could do this. Just swallow with as minimal amount of chewing as possible.
But it was so chewy.
She forced as smile and nodded. “Mmm. You’re right. Delicious.”
Okay, time for water. Lots of water, which she quickly chugged down while Luke picked up one of the other pieces and shoved it in his mouth. “Mmm. Did you see Dr. Paulson yesterday?”
An image of the older doctor came to mind. Particularly the fact t
hat his usual salt-and-pepper hair had been dyed a dark brown that looked somewhat unsettling with his pale skin. “I’m afraid so.”
“He stopped me to talk about a concern he had for one of his patients, and I had the hardest time not chuckling outright. What is he thinking?”
She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I understand from some of the nurses that he just finalized his third divorce, so my bet is he’s already looking to find wife number four.”
“Really?” He looked perplexed. “I don’t get men like that. Not respecting the sanctity of marriage. You don’t just marry someone based on attraction alone, but mutual respect. Common interests. Take my parents. Married forty-four years. Both on the greens bright and early five days a week. They took up Spanish and then Italian and are now both fairly fluent. They do everything together—it’s great. They’re like two peas in a pod.”
See. There were men who believed in marriage and commitment and family. She’d try and ignore the part about his parents’ golfing.
Almost. Every. Day.
Her parents enjoyed doing things together, of course, but they also had other interests. Other hobbies. It was that variety and independence that made it so much more fun to come home at the end of the day—or so her mother said.