“Maybe after breakfast. Let’s go sit down.”
His dry sense of humor mixed perfectly with mine. It was actually really hard to find someone who thought I was funny and could understand when I was joking. I’d met a decent number of guys at the bars who thought I was being serious when I said something like I had.
I wasn’t normally the overly confident type of girl around any guy, especially a man like Brandon. Well, the truth was I didn’t actually hang around rich guys or handsome guys so I didn’t know exactly know what to do with myself. But, since I had already decided this would likely be our only date, I was just going to go for it and be as wild and crazy as I could muster up the courage for.
“I’d like an everything bagel, toasted, with cream cheese, please,” I told the lady at the counter.
“Two of those, please,” Brandon said.
“Oh, you just happen to like the same type of bagel as I do?”
“Actually, I’ve never tried the everything bagel and always wanted to. I figured since you were bold enough to go for it, I could, too. What exactly is on it?”
“Hmmm, I don’t think anyone has referred to me as bold before; that’s actually really funny. I have no idea what’s all on it. But I do know that it tastes delicious.”
“I doubt that no one has called you bold before,” he said as his hand touched my arm slightly. “You probably just intimidated them too much to say it to your face.”
The heat from his fingers was like lightening as it shot through my body. I wasn’t ready for it and felt my knees get weak almost instantly. I leaned against the counter to pretend like I was just fine, but there was so much energy coming off of Brandon that I literally couldn’t look at him.
There was a night and day difference between how he had touched my arm and how that guy at the art gallery had gone about it. Brandon was soft and gentle. He looked me in the eyes and made me feel passion for him; the guy at the gallery just made me afraid he was going to murder me.
“Orange juice, please,” I said when we reached the cash register.
I looked straight at the clerk and avoided Brandon’s eyes as much as possible, although the way he continued to look back at me and smile was melting every bit of my will power away.
His green eyes were crystal clear, and his lips just the right amount of plump. I could certainly see myself kissing this guy, or kissing all over his body. Hell, I could see myself in bed with him. If he had asked me to go back to his place, I would have probably just said yes. How could a girl ever refuse a man who was so blatantly handsome? Not to mention he was kind, funny, and rich, I thought.
“I’ve got this,” Brandon said as I reached for my purse to pay. “I mean, it’s the least I can do.”
I smiled and grabbed my bagel and orange juice while I waited for him to pick out a spot. He smiled again as he walked to a booth in the corner and I dutifully followed him. It felt like we were both smiling like a couple of maniacs, but I figured that was better than if either of us were frowning.
The date seemed to be off to a great start. He was funny, handsome, and flirty. I was pulling together some sort of witty awesomeness that I didn’t even know I had in me. So far so good.
“I bet the girls just cream themselves when you’re out in the clubs,” I blurted out as we sat down.
He burst into laughter as I quickly covered my mouth in total shock. Then I covered my whole face as the words replayed in my head. I couldn’t have actually said those things out loud.
Nope, that didn’t happen. I didn’t say that…I’m going to die.
I had been thinking that he probably got every girl he went after; I didn’t mean to actually say it out loud. I shoved the bagel in my mouth and took a big bite to avoid talking any more. My face was flushed red, and I was pretty sure I had even started to sweat by that point.
There was no use. I should have just got up and left. How was a guy supposed to actually finish a date with me after I said something like that? I couldn’t look at him. I refused to look up from the table and hoped he would just get up and leave me there to die of embarrassment.
“I’m not sure,” he laughed as he looked at me. “I don’t think it’s ever happened, but you women are pretty good at keeping your secrets.”
He looked at me so intently, I felt like I was going to cream myself right there in the bagel shop. How was this guy single? Something had to be wrong with him. Maybe he was a womanizer? Or bad in bed? Perhaps he worked all the time and ignored his lady? There had to be something wrong with this guy; I just didn’t see how any woman in her right mind would ever let him go.
“What do you do for work?” Brandon asked as I continued to chew on my giant bite of bagel and hoped we could just finish this date so I could die of my embarrassment already.
I covered my mouth as I quickly tried to chew my bite so I could answer him. His eyes locked onto mine though and made me wonder how on earth I was going to answer his question.
Telling a guy I worked on computers wasn’t really a big selling point about my life. I was a nerd. Plain and simple, I like computers and video games and even thought of myself as a typical nerd. I worked in a field of nerds and liked the same things those guys did. It wasn’t exactly the sexiest of jobs.
“Um, I’m in computers,” I managed to mumble as I finished chewing. “I do websites and fix data and stuff like that. I work for a cool company that I like.”
“That’s really interesting. I’m not sure I’ve ever met a woman who worked in computers. Wow, that sounds really sexist. I should say I don’t meet that many people who work in the computer field at all, so it’s probably not unusual that I
haven’t met women who work in the field. Okay, I’ve put my foot totally in my mouth. I’m sorry. That sounds like a cool job.”