Impulsive (Reach out to Me) (5 page)

              “Kara!” Michelle called at about seven that evening. “Your non-date is here!”

              “Darn it!” Kara called back. She was still only halfway through curling her hair and she hadn’t finished her makeup either. “Stall him, please!”

              “More than happy to help!” Michelle trilled enthusiastically.

              “Don’t get all proud parent about it either! We’re just friends, remember? It’s a non-date!”

              “Hi,” Michelle said when Thomas walked up to the door. “Kara’s almost ready. Would you like something to drink?”

              “I’d love some water,” he said. “You must be Michelle.”

              “Guilty as charged,” she said with a laugh, reminding him briefly of Kara. He wondered how long they’d been friends.

              “Kara’s been talking about me already?” she asked as she led him to the kitchen and poured him some water.

              “Only good things,” Thomas reassured her as she handed him the glass. “You must love to cook.”

              She followed his gaze around the wonderful kitchen her parents had remodeled before she moved in and nodded. The maple cabinets perfectly complimented the light sage of the walls and the copper of her grandmother’s pots and pans. It looked homey and warm and she could feel the love that had gone into the decorating.

              “Very much,” she said. “When I’m not working I’m usually in here whipping up a little something. It’s even better when the garden blooms and I can cook with my own fruits and produce.”

              “I imagine so,” Thomas agreed heartily. “I grew up in the heart of farmland and I still remember how much better everything tastes with homegrown, fresh ingredients.”

              “You’ll have to come for dinner one night after Hayes and I have had a chance to gather the first harvest,” Michelle said. “I might even make you my grandmother’s secret recipe apple pie.”

              “I haven’t had apple pie in years,” he replied with a smile. “Thank’s for the invitation.”

              “Of course,” she said as Kara came down the hall. “I’d love to have a chance to properly welcome you to the town.”

              “I’m all ready to go, Thomas,” Kara said, giving Michelle a pointed look.

              She really hoped her friend hadn’t been matchmaking behind her back again. How many times did she have to tell Michelle that Thomas wasn’t her type? Even if he did look very nice in his pressed khakis and a red and white striped polo, it wouldn’t change the fact that she’d never felt that zing with a steady, stable guy like him. She needed an unpredictable bad boy to keep up with her inexhaustible energy.

              “I didn’t make reservations,” he said as he opened the car door for her, making her raise her eyebrows. No one had ever done that for her before. “Because I didn’t know what was good. I hope that won’t be a problem.”

              She waited until he had walked around the car and taken his seat behind the wheel to say, “No, it shouldn’t be. Only the swankiest places require a reservation and they aren’t my favorite places in town anyway. I don’t feel like I can be myself in a room full of people concerned with which fork to use.”

              He smiled at her and she pointed him toward a little bistro on the corner. It overlooked the river and she’d always found it a gracefully casual little place. She nearly smacked Thomas with the car door as she flung it open because she hadn’t realized he was going to open it for her again.

              “I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed with an embarrassed laugh.

              “That’s all right,” he said and, from his smile, she could tell he wasn’t upset with her. “But I’m afraid you’ll have to get used to it. My mother always told me that I should never let a lady open her own door.”

              “I’ll try to remember that,” Kara agreed as she took his hand and allowed him to help her out of the car to walk into the bistro.

              They were seated right away and Thomas glanced around at the small restaurant. The light was low, but not so low that a person couldn’t tell what they were eating. The tables were a pretty, dark walnut and the chairs that went with them were the same, just cushioned with a deep red fabric. There were beautiful black and white pictures in silver frames on the walls all around the restaurant and a huge exposed brick fireplace dominated the wall they were sitting next to.

              Thomas counted himself lucky to have gotten such a good seat when he saw the way the fireplace cast a delicate and beautiful glow over Kara’s olive skin. A waitress brought them tall glasses of ice water right away and left them to look over the menu.

              “This is nice,” he said. “Not too upscale, but still classy. I’ll have to remember where this is.”

              “For your other dates?” Kara asked, arching an eyebrow at him over her menu. “Just be sure to tell them that you were here with me first!”

              “Kara,” he began, planning to tell her there wouldn’t need to be other dates as far as he was concerned, but the waitress approached to take their drink order and chatted with Kara about the new art for a few minutes. By the time she’d taken their order, the moment was gone.

              They chatted casually over their meal. Kara discovered that Thomas loved Sudoku puzzles and he discovered how much she hated crosswords. They shared some favorite books and movies though, and they both loved biking.

              “Maybe, once you get settled in, we could take a long bike ride together,” Kara said. “The riverside bike trail is beautiful.”

              “I’d love to,” he answered. “Actually, my bike was one of the first things I made sure to unpack.”

              “Then we should do it this weekend,” Kara said. “The weather is supposed to be sunny and warm. It’ll be a great day for a ride.”

              “When do you want to meet?” he asked eagerly.

              “Oh I don’t know,” she answered casually, taking a spoonful of her tomato soup. “Let’s just wing it. You’ve got my number.”

              “Sure,” Thomas agreed, even though he hated winging it.

              He was the sort of man who wanted plans set in stone. He’d always been more comfortable knowing exactly what he was doing and when. Kara didn’t seem like that kind of woman though so he planned to do his best to be spontaneous.

              “Want to go for a walk?” she asked a few minutes later when her soup was gone and his sandwich had disappeared.

              “You won’t be cold?” he asked as he eyed her outfit. She looked beautiful, but the light cotton dress she wore only reached her knees and the sleeves were very short. “There’ll be a breeze of the water and I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

              “I’ll be fine,” she said with a wave of her hand. “It’ll be fun and I can show you some more of the town.”

              “If you’re sure,” he said worriedly.

              “I am,” she said firmly. “Don’t be a worrywart. I’m a big girl.”

              Thomas paid the check over Kara’s objections to at least let her pay for her own food and they stepped out into the night. The night was a bit brisk but the breeze was the warm caress of spring, so he was able to stop worrying about her being cold and enjoy the walk.

             
“This is a pretty, little town,” he commented with a glance at the river sparking under the moonlight.

              “It is,” Kara agreed. “You’re seeing it at a great time, too. Michelle’s fiancée, Hayes, is an arborist and he does most of the landscaping in the town. It’s all just starting to bloom.”

              “He does lovely work,” Thomas agreed as he watched Kara stop and bend over to smell one of the pink and white roses climbing the white lattice work of an antique shop. “Lovely,” he couldn’t help repeating as she closed her eyes in bliss.

              “You should see our yard,” Kara said with a smile.

              “You live with your friend then?” He didn’t know why, but he hadn’t assumed that they lived together when she’d told him to pick her up there.

              “It was supposed to be temporary,” she answered with a sheepish grin. “But that was a year ago.”

              “At least you don’t have to live alone.” Thomas wished he could take the words back the minute they’d left his mouth; he knew he’d sounded more than a little pathetic.

              Kara nodded seriously though. “That’s true. I really hate living alone. I haven’t actually done it very much. I lived with my parents as a child, of course, and then I had a roommate in college. I did have my own apartment for about a year after I graduated, but then I moved in with my ex. When that didn’t work out, Michelle was sweet enough to take me in on extremely short notice.”

              “That was kind of her,” Thomas answered as he wondered what she would do if he took her hand.

              “She’s the sweetest person I know,” Kara replied quickly. “Especially now that she’s getting married.”

              “Getting engaged made her sweeter?” Thomas teased.

              “No,” Kara said with a laugh. “I mean it’s especially nice of her to let me live there while she’s getting married. Hayes is going to be living with her because she lives in a family home that she’d never even consider leaving. He’s not exactly emotionally tied to his apartment so the decision was easy for both of them. Honestly,” she dove into something she hadn’t spoken out loud to anyone. “I feel kind of in the way there now. They haven’t said anything, but I know that they didn’t plan to start a marriage with her best friend hanging around. I’ve been looking into finding my own place, but I’m not sure my savings are up to par.”

              “I don’t want to be pushy,” he said. “But I’d be happy to help you organize your finances. It’s what I do after all.”

              “Thanks, but I know what the problem is,” she said with a rueful smile. “It’s clothes. And it’s also shoes. And it’s also really pretty shades of lipstick.”

              “If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall,” Thomas said.

              “Who said that?” she asked in amusement.

              “There’s actually some debate over who said it first,” he answered. “Some people say Ben Franklin, but I’m not sure. Since I’m an accountant, it’s always been one of my personal favorite phrases. Speaking of money, have you considered the possibility of getting another roommate? Then you wouldn’t be alone and you’d have someone to split the bills when you move out,” he said logically.

              “I’ve thought about it. Finding my own place I mean, not the roommate thing. I don’t have fond memories of having a college roommate.”

              “Why not?”

              “She couldn’t stand me,” Kara said bluntly. “She said I was too noisy, too talkative, that I stayed out too late, slept too late in the mornings, wasn’t neat…the list went on and on.”

              Thomas stopped walking and stared at her in shock.

              “That’s crazy! You’re a wonderful person!” he blurted out before he thought better of it.

              She felt a blush rise to her cheeks and she laughed softly.

              “Thank you, Thomas.”

              She wasn’t sure how to feel. He really seemed to believe that she was a wonderful person. She hadn’t missed how his gaze had swept over her as they walked. She hadn’t missed the heat it sent through her body to feel his eyes on her either. What was wrong with her? She reminded herself once more that he was emphatically not her type, but she couldn’t help wondering what it might feel like to press her lips to his.