“Originally? Texas. But we move around a lot. I’ve been living in California most recently.”
“That explains it.” He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her, noticing the book in her hand. “Were you reading while you were walking? Is that why you nearly hit that poor lamp post?”
“Yes.” Red filled her cheeks as she closed the book and placed it in her oversized handbag. “You should take your coat back, you’ll get cold.”
“I’m acclimatized to it. Besides, I’m a lot bigger than you. Reading while walking isn’t a very safe thing to do. What if you’d stepped off the sidewalk and in front of a car? Or if you hadn’t seen that lamp post and hit your head?”
“I often read and walk at the same time. I hardly ever get hurt.”
He didn’t like the sound of that ‘hardly ever’ part.
“I don’t want you doing that anymore, okay? You could get seriously hurt.”
She gave him a surprised look but nodded.
“Are you on your lunch break? Considering how late you worked last night, I thought you might have had the day off.” She looked tired. Pale.
He didn’t like it. At all.
“Unfortunately someone called in sick and I had to cover for them. I have to be back in an hour.”
“I was on my way to the diner. Come have lunch with me.”
“Oh, umm . . .” She looked away.
Jesus, you idiot. She obviously doesn’t want to have lunch with you.
“Or not,” he said coolly, the rejection cutting even as he tried not to let it get to him. “It’s fine. Take the jacket, I’ll come grab it from the spa on my way home.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” she whispered so quietly he almost didn’t hear her. “I just don’t have any money on me.” Her gaze was low, her shoulders slumped, her embarrassment clear.
Fuck. He needed his ass kicked.
Rejection was a trigger for him. But he didn’t need to act like an ass and make her feel ashamed or embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, Mari. I jumped to the conclusion that you didn’t want to have lunch with me. Which, even if you didn’t, I don’t need to react like an ass. Would you like to eat with me? I’m paying.”
“I couldn’t ask you to—”
“You didn’t ask, though, did you? And just so you know, I’d pay even if you did have some cash on you. My view is if a man asks a woman out to eat, then he pays.”
“Really?” She gave him a surprised look.
“I’ve got some old-fashioned manners. And views. My nana would whip my ass if I did otherwise.”
“Does she live here?”
“No, she died a few years ago now.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He could see the sincerity in her eyes. “So, lunch?” He held out his elbow to her.
“If you’re sure,” she said, but she was sliding her hand into the crook of his elbow as she said it.
“I’m definitely sure,” he said firmly as he led her towards the diner.