His question surprised her. "How did you know that?"
"It was a guess since I can hear your stomach rumbling."
She put her hand over her stomach. "I didn't realize I was so obnoxious."
He growled at her. Bride shifted nervously at the sound that wasn't quite human.
"Look, Bride," he said, his voice deep and resonant. "I'm going to be honest with you. I don't know what I'm doing tonight, okay? I've never had a date before and I was told that women liked to be taken out someplace nice to eat.
Grace and Amanda said that I should be myself and not try to impress you.
So here we are at my favorite restaurant, but if you don't like it here, we can go someplace else and eat something you want."
Bride's eyes teared up at his words and what they meant. "You asked someone how to date me?"
He let out a sigh and glanced down at his clenched hands. "Great. Now I've made you sad again. I'm sorry. This was a really bad idea. I'll just take you home and you can forget that you ever laid eyes on me."
She reached out and took his hand into hers. "Okay, since we're being honest with each other. I don't know what I'm doing, either. A week ago, I knew what I wanted. I was a fairly successful business owner, dating a guy I stupidly thought I loved and one I planned on marrying someday."
"In one afternoon, my entire life shattered and then all of a sudden this great guy comes along like some mythical knight in shining armor. He's gorgeous, loaded, and says all the right things to me. He makes me feel like I can fly, and every time he shows up, he makes everything better. I'm not used to this, okay? And I'm not used to being with a guy who is so incredibly sexy that he makes me feel like the booby prize."
"I think you're beautiful, Bride."
"See!" she said, gesturing toward him. "There you go being perfect again. I think you need your head examined."
He looked extremely offended by that.
Bride pulled back and sat up straight. "Okay, let's try this again." She held her hand out to him. "Hi, I'm Bride McTierney. Pleased to meet you."
His expression said he thought she was the one who needed her head examined. He took her hand into his. "Hi, I'm Vane Kattalakis and I'm starving. Would you like to have dinner with me, Bride?"
"Yes, Vane. I would."
He smiled at her. "Okay, so now is this the part where we share sex stories?"
Bride burst out laughingso loudly that several people nearby turned to stare at her. Covering her mouth, she looked at him. "What?"
"That's what Nick said you should do to get to know a woman."
"Nick?" she asked in disbelief. "The tacky-shirt-wearing, I-can't-drive-my-way-out-of-a-paper-sack Nick?"
Vane's eyes turned dark. Dangerous. "Did he offend you when he picked you up?
Say the word and I'll kill him."
"No, but if I were you, I don't think I'd take dating advice from him."
"Why? He gets women all the time."
"Yeah, but does he ever keep any of them?"
"Well no."
"Then don't take his advice."
"Okay." Vane motioned for the waiters who were waiting nearby. "You want to share the Chateaubriand Bouquetihre with me? Since it's supposed to serve two they get kind of scared when I wolf it down by myself."
She bit back a smile at his words. "I would love it."