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“Like you could,” he scoffed, gathering up his stuff.
I laid back down and adjusted my binoculars, staring at every micro-expression on her face. Her smile was genuine, but it was nothing compared to the smile she gave me. There was just no way she was really into this guy.
“What’s going on?” Brock asked urgently.
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s a commotion in the restaurant.”
I zoomed off her face and looked around until I saw it. A man was choking and the whole restaurant was turning frantic. I was about to get up and rush down the hill and across the street to save the day when the mighty fireman stood and strode over to the old man, giving him the Heimlich Maneuver. In seconds, the old man was breathing again and the restaurant was clapping for the man that just saved his life.
Even Laura was staring at him with stars in her eyes.
“Fuck, that’s not good,” I muttered.
“Yeah, it’s never a good thing when a man saves another person’s life.”
“Not in front of a woman.” I sighed heavily, feeling the weight of this date on my shoulders. It had just gone from bad to worse, but only on my end. “That seals the deal. She’s gonna go home and make babies with him.”
“Hold on,” Brock chuckled. “Two minutes ago, you were telling me that she couldn’t possibly be having a good time. Now you think they’re going to have babies and live happily ever after?”
“In their fireman’s house with their fire pole and their fancy fireplace,” I grumbled.
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a great guy. Someday, you’re going to find someone that likes you for the amazing qualities you have.”
“Yeah? Like what?” I sighed, packing up my stuff. It was clear that Laura was now ensnared in his web. I’d lost her.
“Well, you have a great personality.”
I snorted, interrupting his pathetic attempt at cheering me up. “Everyone says you have a great personality when there’s nothing more redeeming to talk about.”
“No, seriously, man. You’re a great guy. You’re funny and protective. You have a great use of vocabulary…”
“Vocabulary? That’s what you’re giving me?” Man, I felt like I was trying to win points with an English teacher.
“Vocabulary is very important. Imagine if you were talking to her through a text and she couldn’t understand you,” he said, his eyebrows raising like this was an excellent point. “Nobody likes having to understand acronyms in text. Do you know how long it took me to figure out what SMH meant?”
The corner of my lip turned up slightly. “You’re just saying that.”
“Seriously, I may have a pretty face and a great head of hair, but I appreciate the fact that you write out all your texts as if you were speaking.”
I did do that. I couldn’t stand shorthand unless we were on a mission. “Well, okay, you may have a point, but that won’t win any points with her. Not when she’s already decided on the sexy fireman.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. She still comes to you at night. That has to mean something.”
“Yeah, it means I’m like a security blanket.” I finished packing up and looked back at the window one last time. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
34
LAURA
I finishedmy first glass of wine and briefly wondered how long I had to stay here. It wasn’t that Brett wasn’t a nice guy. He was a perfect gentleman and had a charming smile. But his personality? Eek. He was like a wet blanket. Who I suspected was an interesting guy yesterday turned out to be a man who didn’t seem to have anything interesting to talk about. He could be just nervous, which I was banking on if I was going to make it through this dinner.
“So, that’s a typical day for me,” he smiled.
“That sounds…”
“Boring,” he grinned. “It can be. In small towns, there’s not always a lot to do. You can only get called out to Mrs. Richard’s house so many times to get her cat down from the tree before you want to tell her to let him commit suicide.”