Page 7

SEVEN

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP

Natalie

The waiter placed our check in the center of the table, and before I could suggest splitting it, Tanner added his card to the bifold and handed it back to the man.

His smile told me he was enjoying himself, and I hoped mine reflected the same.

The upscale Asian fusion restaurant he’d chosen had been really good. The lights were slightly dimmed, and the music played at just the right volume in the background. Our waiter had been attentive, and the food was rich and flavorful.

And the man sitting across from me had also been…good.

Thankfully, I hadn’t gotten my hopes up, so I wasn’t disappointed when I realized there wasn’t more of a connection between us.

It hadn’t been a bad date. Tanner was a really good-looking guy with a strong jawline and disheveled salt-and-pepper hair. His blue eyes were nearly gray, and he smiled with his entire face.

He asked me more questions than I asked him, which I knew was hard to come by, and he complimented me on more than one occasion. He didn’t talk about himself too much, but I did learn that he’d been divorced—not a widower as Caroline had said—for four years and had three children he saw often. He and his ex-wife coparented well—according to him—and he worked in technology. The specifics of which I didn’t quite catch.

Overall, it was a good date. But that was all it would be. I didn’t make a love match, and I definitely couldn’t see myself sleeping with him if I was being honest with myself.

The conversation continued seamlessly as he paid and we stood to leave.

“I had a really great time,” he said with an easy smile as we approached my car, only a few spaces down from his own.

I returned the smile. “I did, too. It was fun,” I said, and Tanner took the opportunity to interlace our fingers and step closer. I knew what he was about to do, and I frantically searched for the right words to tell him that I wasn’t really interested without hurting his feelings.

But I was too slow, and before I could react, he leaned in and kissed me.

His lips pressed against mine, and I let it happen. I didn’t push him away or rear back. Instead, I let him lead the quick, chaste kiss.

Before I knew it, it was over, and I was proven right once and for all—there were no sparks between us. But based on the elation on his face, he must have felt something. Or he was just excited that he got to kiss me at all.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, and maybe we can set up something for next week.” His voice was riddled with hope, and I couldn’t find it within me to crush all of it in that moment. I’d act like an adult and wait until he called and let him down then.

I gave him a noncommittal “sure,” and I was excited when he didn’t linger.

Quickly, I jumped in my car and was already dialing Caroline before I even backed out of the spot.

“Was he perfect?” she said by way of greeting, and I groaned. She cursed, and then there was shuffling on the other end of the line. “Okay, hold on, I know it couldn’t have been that bad.”

“You’re right, it wasn’t bad, but we’re also not meant for each other.”

I turned right onto the main road, heading back home, as Caroline asked, “Not even meant enough for each other that you could spend a night in his bed?”

I rolled my eyes and came to a stop at a red light. My head hit the headrest, and I closed my eyes momentarily.

“No, unfortunately not.”

She sighed, like it was just as hard for her, and said, “Okay, take me through the entire date,” which I did, start to finish, as I drove home.

By the end of it, she agreed that we probably weren’t ideal as anything more than friends but still maintained that sleeping with him would be fun.

“I don’t think fun would be the word I’d use to describe it especially since I felt next to nothing when he kissed me.”

I pulled into the driveway and ignored the way my heartbeat sped up when I parked next to Theo’s truck. But I pushed past the nerves and anticipation and told Caroline I’d call her the next day and we could discuss my love life—or lack thereof—in as much detail as she wanted.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” she added in a sing-song voice before hanging up the phone.

I mustered up the courage to get out of the car but held my breath until I stepped inside and heard the faint hum of music from upstairs. I continued into the kitchen with a one-track mind, which included myself, a spoon, and a pint of ice cream.

I discarded my heels near the barstools and quickly found the mint chocolate chip I’d been fantasizing about the entire drive home. Grabbing a spoon, I pushed up to sit on the counter and took a bite. I had to suppress a groan as the flavor burst on my tongue. It was exactly what I wanted, and I was so completely engrossed in my dessert that I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone until I heard the refrigerator open to my right.

Between bites, I glanced over and closed my eyes against the sight of Theo shirtless, tattooed back on display, muscles flexing as he reached for something in the fridge. The only piece of clothing he wore was light gray sweatpants that hung low on his hips.

I waited to open my eyes again until I turned back to my ice cream and slowly took another bite. All I had to do was focus on the cold, sweet flavor and not on the new heat pulsing between my legs. Not even the cooler countertop beneath me that was pressed against my thighs helped stifle the warmth.

Not looking up from where my eyes were fixed on the container in my hand, I still noticed Theo walking around the island, twisting the cap off of his water bottle as he stopped directly across from me. Leaning his back against the opposite counter, he took a swig of water, replaced the plastic lid, and set it behind him.

I could feel his eyes on me, and I pretended to act unaffected by his attention.

“You’re home early,” he mused, and I couldn’t help it, my eyes snapped up to meet his. But not before I quickly scanned the muscular planes of his chest and toned stomach. His pecs were covered in the same black ink I’d seen on his back, but the lower down his abs I tracked, the more sparse they became. More tanned skin peaked through between the dark, intricate designs.

My eyes met his once again, and I swallowed before I said, “Not exactly. It’s past ten.”

I took another bite and watched Theo track the movement of the spoon as I slowly licked the remnants. His hungry gaze sent a wanting shiver through me. And the way he eyed my mouth, it was like he was imagining something other than the spoon between my lips.

He shifted, a hand scrubbing over his mouth as his attention jumped back to my eyes. The desire shining back at me was enough to make each subsequent breath more difficult than the last.

“Where did you meet this guy?” he asked so casually that I couldn’t reconcile the burning desire in his eyes and the tone of his voice.

He wasn’t one to normally ask many questions, so I said, “Caroline set us up.”

“And it didn’t go well?”

I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head slightly. He didn’t balk at my assessing stare, and something inside of me wanted to challenge his cockiness.

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

I took another bite of my ice cream and decided to tell him the truth. I also didn’t think I was a skillful enough liar to pretend like my date was anything more than fine . Especially pinned under his scrutinizing stare.

“There wasn’t much of a connection,” I said. “He was nice. He asked me a lot of questions and seemed genuinely interested in my answers. He was pretty funny and not bad to look at, but…”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing.”

He straightened and shifted his hands behind him so they were braced on the counter on either side of his hips. The movement made my eyes drop lower, and I traced the lines of his defined V peeking out above the waistband of his sweats.

I had to readjust on the counter and immediately felt the blush darken my cheeks.

“That’s not good enough?”

“No,” I finally managed to say. “Besides being attractive, those are all qualities I look for in a friend, too. There needs to be something more than that if I’m going to date someone.”

And without missing a beat, he said, “To date someone or use them to get the dirty thoughts of your son’s best friend out of your head.”