“I’d better go grab your burger,” she said sliding out of the booth with the book in her hands. With an awkward parting smile, she disappeared into the kitchen. Safely hidden away, she whacked her forehead against the refrigerator door and groaned.
“Order’s up,” Oscar said, sliding the plate across the counter. “Don’t whack your head so hard you forget which table to take it to.”
Oh, there was no way she was going to forget, no matter how many times she hit her head. She also couldn’t forget that she was an idiot. She was playing with fire. Somehow the idea both thrilled and horrified her. She glanced down at the book in her hands and the handsome face staring back at her before taking a deep, calming breath. It didn’t help. Nothing would.
Rose had a date with Xander Langston.
At exactly 7:00 p.m. Sunday, Xander pulled his Lexus back into the gravel parking lot of Daisy’s Diner. The restaurant was closed on Sunday nights, but there was one vehicle in the lot—a four-door Honda Civic. A smart choice.
That was one thing he’d always appreciated about Rose. She was practical. She’d always been embarrassed by the fact that she had to leave after school and work while the other girls went to cheerleading and band practice. Xander had thought it was industrious of her. She wasn’t frivolous with her time or her money. He’d been proud to date a girl who was hardworking and appreciated what she had.
There had been a time when Xander was spoiled. His father had had a good job; his mother had stayed at home. He and his brother, Heath, hadn’t wanted for anything. And then, in the blink of an eye, he’d lost everything. Going to live with the Edens had been like a whole new world. They hadn’t had a lot of money, but they’d taught him the value of working hard and having pride in what he accomplished. Each member of their patchwork family had helped run the farm. Come December, he’d do nothing but bag and haul Christmas trees and he’d be happy to do it. It had taught him the skills he needed to fight the good fight on Capitol Hill.
Rose hadn’t had it easy, either. Her mother had been diagnosed with stage IV cancer her senior year and her father hadn’t made much money as a mechanic. She and her two siblings had both worked because they’d had to. Because of it, she’d appreciated things most people took for granted.
As Xander pulled to a stop, the door of the Civic opened and his heart skipped a beat in his chest. Rose stepped out in a chic little black dress. It was sleeveless with a high, almost mandarin-style collar. It also clung to every curve like black liquid latex had been poured over her body. A bright pink belt encircled her tiny waist and matched the pink heels she wore. Rose had been one of the tallest girls in school at five-ten, and with those heels, she would probably look him right in the eye.
He couldn’t wait to find out how well their bodies would align with those shoes. Xander put the SUV into Park and got out. “You look lovely,” he said.
Rose smoothed her hand over her hair, which was down tonight, framing her face. She gave him a nervous smile. “Thank you.”
Xander walked her around his car and then opened the door for her to step inside. The movement made her respectable hemline inch higher, showing off a flash of her creamy, firm thigh. That was enough to make his palms tingle in anticipation of sliding over them. He hadn’t asked Rose to dinner with the end goal of sleeping with her, but he certainly wouldn’t complain if that was how it ended up. He needed to have a little fun while he was home. Once that drawing of Tommy was released, the rest of his time would be less than pleasurably spent.
He shut the door and got in on the driver’s side. “I have reservations for us at this Italian place in the next town. Molly recommended it.”
Xander had danced around who he was taking to dinner—that would’ve sent Molly into a tizzy—but he had asked about a nice place to eat. His foster mother was on a mission to get all of her children married off. Molly loved Rose and if she thought for a second they might reconcile, he wouldn’t hear the end of it until they were married with three kids. Cornwall had some decent dining choices, but he’d been gone so long he wouldn’t know what was still open. This place was on the new side, about a year old, but it had gotten rave reviews.
“Sounds great,” she said as they pulled out onto the main road.
“Have you been there before?”
Rose chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t really eat out much, unless you count Daisy’s. I usually work the lunch and dinner shifts because they have the best tips.”
Xander knew what it was like to work all the time. He was pretty bad about it. If he did eat out, it was with a colleague or he was attending some kind of political event. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d gone out to dinner with a pretty woman who had no connections to politics. That was sad. He needed to make it a point not to talk about his work at all tonight.
“I know what you mean. My days are pretty long, and unlike most of my fellow congressmen, I don’t have family to go home to. That just means I have no reason to leave and I work even longer.”
“So you’ve never married, either? Or did you run one off?”
Xander laughed. “If I had married, I probably would’ve run her off by now. But no, I’m single. Dating is nearly impossible with my schedule, but the pressure is on. Wade’s getting married this fall and get this—my brother Brody is engaged, too. Can you believe he’s beat me to it?”
“Really? Wow. Good for him.”
His brother Brody had been in the same grade as he and Rose. Brody was smart but painfully shy thanks to the scars left behind by his abusive father. He’d come to the Garden of Eden after his dad lost it and dumped battery acid on Brody’s face. He was never comfortable in his own skin and until recently was never comfortable around women. His fiancée, Sam, had hunted him down like a lioness stalking a gazelle. Brody hadn’t even known what had hit him.
“I know. I guess I’d always consoled myself with the fact that I wouldn’t be the last to get married. I figured I had plenty of time. I was wrong.”
“Don’t look at it that way,” she said. “It’s better to think that if Brody could find someone, there has to be a woman out there for you. You just haven’t found her yet.”
Or maybe he had and he’d been a fool and thrown his chance away. That thought had crossed his mind more than one time over the years, but even more so as two of his brothers had gotten engaged. Wade and Tori were getting married in a few months. Brody and Sam were marrying in the spring. Thank goodness his younger brother was not the settling-down type. Heath was always quick to find a flaw in the women he dated. He had some ideal that no woman could ever meet. Xander understood. Every woman that drifted into his life was measured against Rose and came up short.
“You were always good at putting a positive spin on things.”
“Spin is your department, Congressman Langston. I just call it like I see it.”
Somehow, her using his official title struck him wrong. He wasn’t even used to her calling him Xander, so his title felt completely alien. In high school she’d called him Z. No one else had ever called him that before or since. “Please don’t ever call me that again. With you in that dress, it makes me feel like a dirty politician out with a young girl.”
Rose laughed. “I was just using it for effect. I’ll stick with Xander from now on.”
He slowed and pulled the car into the restaurant parking lot. “Well, I hope you’re hungry. Home-style Italian food is not designed for dieters.”
“You know me,” she said with a smile. “Salads are for rabbits.”
Xander laughed, remembering their dates in high school.