meat for himself. “Nectar from the gods?” he asked.
My cheeks flushed as I pinched my lips together. Was that corny? Was I wrong to have said that? Maybe I supposed to be mysterious and play hard to get.
How was I ever going to survive this new dating world?
Dating. Ha.
What Danny and I were doing wasn’t dating. He was just being nice. If anything, he just wanted to be friends. I was the idiot who seemed to always want to add more meaning to his actions.
“I speak the truth,” I replied. I might as well give up on the idea that I could, in some way, be mysterious. I wasn’t suave, and I certainly wasn’t cool enough to try to pretend otherwise. I was a mom with two kids who was trying to survive life. Anything other than that was a lie, and after what had happened with Craig, I was over living a life of deception.
Danny chuckled. “I like that about you.” His voice was low and had an air of reverence to it that took me by surprise. And the way he was smiling up at me confused me.
Was he giving me a compliment? What did that mean? And how was I supposed to react? Thank him? Hit his arm and say something feminine?
Why was I overthinking everything?
He furrowed his brow before I could respond. He speared a piece of cheese and slipped it into his mouth. “Why do you look so bothered?” he asked.
I swallowed and shook my head, hoping that I could erase my anxiety and be the woman who knew how to handle this. Who was cool enough to flirt with Danny.
“I’m not,” I whispered. Even though it was a blatant lie, there was no way I wanted to explain to this man how broken I was.
Danny leaned back and folded his arms. My entire body flushed with embarrassment as I fiddled with the cheese on my toothpick. I was so nervous that eating seemed like a joke. My stomach was in knots, and hunger was the last thing on my mind. Even though I knew I was going to regret it later.
The silence between us was deafening. I wanted him to speak. I wanted him to tell me that he’d made a mistake and then walk away. I didn’t want to get invested in a man that just might walk away from me when my secrets became exposed.
He was carefree and relaxed, and I was broken and tied down.
Why didn’t he realize that?
Danny cleared his throat, and I brought my attention back to him. He leaned forward and met my gaze head-on. His lips tipped up into a smile, and he looked so at ease that I almost wanted to sprint away from him.
How could he be so confident right now?
“I like you, Shari,” he said quietly.
Those four little words caught me off guard. I blinked a few times as they settled around me. I hadn’t actually heard him say that…had I?
“I want to get to know you better. But I fear that if I push you, you’ll just walk away.” He leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his palm. “But I also think that if I don’t do the direct approach, you’ll never pick up on my hints.”
I was sure my eyes were as wide as saucers as I stared at him. Was he serious? Or was this a joke? My lips parted, but nothing came out. Instead, I just sat there, staring at him as he kept talking.
“I know what you are going to say. I’m too young for you. I’m a Holt. I’m not mature enough.” He shifted on his seat. Was he nervous?
The reasons I had for us not being together had nothing to do with his age or his family—though when he mentioned those things, they did make me a tad nervous.
No. The reason I wanted to push him away had everything to do with me and my own baggage, not his.
“Geez, Danny,” he said under his breath as he pinched his lips together and offered me a weak smile. “Listen to me, talking you out of giving me a chance.”
I shook my head. That wasn’t it. But he seemed to misinterpret my reaction because his expression fell as he pushed his hands through his hair.
“Yeah. That’s what I figured. It was ridiculous for me to hope—”
“No!” I said so loud that it startled even me.
He snapped his head back and stared at me as