Leslie pulled back and grabbed his hand. “Come in. You’re way early, but I can give you the grand tour.”
Dawson disentangled his hand from hers. “I’m not coming for lunch,” he said. “I just had to talk to you for a second. I sort of led you to believe that Clara and I were dating, and, well, we’ve been on one date. I don’t know if we’ll keep dating, but even if we don’t, I don’t want you to think that I’m going to eventually date you.”
Leslie’s eyes had gone from wide with surprise to narrow with confusion.
“You’re a talented woman, Leslie, and you’re fun to be around,” Dawson continued, feeling like he’d just swallowed a mouthful of sand. “But I’m not attracted to you in a romantic sense. I wanted to be straight up with you so that I don’t hurt your feelings, in case you have other expectations.”
Leslie opened her mouth, then shut it. Then her face went a deep red. She stepped back, gripping the edge of her door so hard that her fingers turned white.
“I’m sorry,” he said, trying to fill in the awkward silence. “I hope I didn’t—”
With a sudden movement, Leslie swung the door toward him, and Dawson barely backed out of the way before it shut in his face.
He stood there for a moment, stunned. Obviously he’d embarrassed her, made her furious. Could he have worded things differently? Spoken less truth so she wouldn’t be so mad? No, he told himself. It was better this way . . . at least he hoped. Leslie was a great person. She didn’t deserve rejection. She also didn’t deserve to be led on.
After another minute of staring at the door, and knowing that he’d said what needed to be said, he left Leslie’s apartment. When he got back to his place, he sent Clara a text: Just had a door slammed in my face. I guess there’s a first time for everything.
Clara replied right away: Ouch. She doesn’t want to be friends?
I think her answer would be no, although I didn’t dare knock again to find out.
Poor you. But you did the right thing, she wrote.
He hoped so. If my apartment is on the news for being on fire, I have a lead on the arsonist.
Ha. Ha. She’ll get over you quicker than you think.
Not a compliment.
It’s good for you to be taken down a notch once in a while.
Funny. I don’t think I can take two rejections in one day. I’ll be saving you a seat for lunch.
I hope you’re crossing your fingers.
Dawson smiled and sent back the crossed-fingers emoji. He’d been teasing her, but he realized he was sort of serious as well. He felt pretty terrible about what had happened with Leslie, and spending time with Clara would make him feel better—especially since she’d been the one to tell him to confess the truth to Leslie.
Now that he thought about it more, it had been liberating. Yeah, it had been hard, uncomfortable, and awkward, but it had also been the right thing to do.
Clara paused before pulling the glass door open. Through the large windows she could see Dawson inside the Main Street Café. Of course, he was already sitting at a table, a drink in front of him, his fingers tapping away at his phone. He wasn’t wearing a suit or tie, or even a dress shirt. In fact, he was wearing just a regular T-shirt.
Well, not even a T-shirt could look regular on Dawson Harris. No, it fit him in just the right way to show off his broad shoulders and sculpted arms without looking like he was trying to attract women like flies.
Clara reached for the door, because at any second he could look up, and she didn’t want him to think she was spying on him . . . although she totally was. She didn’t know what she liked better, that he’d dressed down or that he hadn’t shaved. He was one of those guys who looked even better with some scruff. And for Dawson to look better was sort of amazing by itself.
She pulled the door open and stepped inside. The place was mostly empty, except for a young couple at the register ordering food.
Dawson looked up immediately, and a smile broke out on his face.
“Hi,” she said, walking toward him. Her stomach felt all fluttery as his brown eyes surveyed her. Or maybe it was his smile. “Is this seat taken?”
“No,” he said, standing up and pulling out the chair for her.
“I should order,” she said.
“Have a seat, I’ll order,” he said. “What do you want?”
She’d been here enough times that she didn’t need to look at the menu board. “I’ll have the chicken salad sandwich on wheat.”
“Anything to drink?”
“Lemonade,” she said. “Thank you, sir.”
He just winked and moved to the register. The couple who’d been there left and took one of the tables. Dawson ordered, then came back to the table.
“Did you already eat?” she asked, trying not to check out too much how great his jeans fit.
“I told them to hold my order until you arrived,” he said, taking a seat across from her.
“What if I didn’t arrive?”
“I’d be ravenous in about an hour.”
Clara laughed. “I’m glad I’m not the reason for your hunger.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say that,” Dawson said, picking up his phone. “Sorry, I need to finish this text. Then I want to hear all about your kindergarten students.”
“All right,” she said. “I don’t know if my stories will be very entertaining though.”
Dawson sent his text, then put his phone down. “I disagree. You said you received multiple love notes. Perhaps I can learn a thing or two from them.”
“Maybe you can,” Clara said. “I mean, it’s hard to turn down a note that says, ‘You’re prettier than my mommy.’”
Dawson leaned back in his chair and laughed.
“My favorite one started out, ‘My dad says you can live at my house.’”
“I hope you turned him down,” Dawson said. “And I hope his mom didn’t see the note.”
“His parents were divorced, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his dad had approved the note,” Clara said. “He used to pick up his son and linger a little too long for my taste.”
“I’m sure you had no problem turning him down and telling him exactly how you felt,” Dawson said, his eyes gleaming.
“Not really.”
They both laughed.
“So, tell me about Leslie,” she said. “What did you say to make her slam the door on you?”
Dawson looked sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing away for a moment. “I was honest, but maybe I was a little too blunt.”
As he told her what he’d said, Clara decided he’d been kind, yet firm. “I think you did the right thing. It was up to Leslie how she wanted to react, and she was probably more embarrassed than anything. At least she knows where you stand.”
“Yeah,” Dawson said, his tone dull.
“Unless you do like her, and now you feel like you lost an opportunity.”
He straightened, and his eyes flashed. “No, definitely not. Even if you weren’t around, I’d still not be interested in Leslie.”
“Good to know,” Clara said.
He lifted his brows. “It’s the truth.”
Their sandwiches arrived, and Clara ignored the way Dawson’s gaze had turned intense. She started to eat her sandwich, and he took the hint and began eating his food as well.
After a couple of minutes of eating, he said, “You know, my mom runs a book club, and they’re always looking for new members.”
“Really?” she said. “My grandma and I were in one for a few years until some of the women moved away.”
“I don’t know if they read romances, though,” he said.
“I read all different types of books,” Clara said. “Romances are my go-to when I want to relax and pretend like I don’t have any problems.”
“If that’s how it’s supposed to be, then maybe I need to rethink my strategy next time,” he said.
“You mean not binge read all night?”
Dawson chuckled. “
How did you know?”
“Um, because you read two books in less than a week,” she said, “and I’m sure your work schedule didn’t magically disappear.”
“You’re right.” He reached for his drink and took a sip. “You’re right about a lot of stuff. How do you do that?”
Clara smiled and gave a small shrug. “It’s sort of how kindergarten teachers are. We just know stuff.”
Dawson shook his head and laughed.
“Tell me what you thought about the books,” Clara said. “Did you like one over the other?” She had to admit she was impressed when he seemed to be seriously thinking over her question.
“I think I learned that you can’t lump all romances together,” he said in a thoughtful tone. “They both had lots of feelings discussed, and of course there were the kissing scenes . . .”
Was he actually blushing?
He rubbed his neck. “I have to admit that I was interested to know how everything was going to play out. I mean, I knew they’d somehow get together in the end . . . but I got caught up in the story lines.”
“That’s nice to know you didn’t consider them silly.”
He lifted his brows.
“Oh . . . you did.”
“Not silly as far as the stories and the writing,” he said in a slow voice. “It was silly that I had to read them in order to see you again.”
Clara smirked.
He leaned . . . He was making a habit of that. “Ironically, you making me read those books before I saw you again would be a good plot twist in a romance novel.”
“Ha. Ha.” She picked up her drink and took a sip. “Which book was your favorite?”
Again, he seemed to be thinking. “Nope. Can’t choose. They were both decent reads. Although I found the Regency one intriguing because of all the social manners and expectations.” He waved a hand toward her. “You and I meeting here would be considered scandalous. Even though we’re in a public place, you should have a chaperone.”
Clara laughed. “And you should still be married. Divorce wasn’t allowed back then. Men just had mistresses.”
Dawson didn’t seem fazed at her comment. “It’s remarkable how strict and proper they seemed to be, yet, they turned a blind eye to stuff we’d find immoral today—like men having mistresses when they were married.”
“Irony at its best.”
Dawson nodded, his gaze moving over her face.
Clara took another sip from her drink. She was going to be very hydrated by the end of their lunch.
“So are you looking to teach again?” he asked. “Or does Jeff Finch pay you too much?”
“He pays decent,” Clara said. “Teaching school is a lot different, of course, and I had summers off. I’ll miss that part, but I needed a break from teaching.”
“Was your last class tough?” he asked.
“Kids see right through fake in an instant,” she said. “It became harder and harder to show up to class when my entire life had shifted.”
“You went through a lot, and it sounds like you had to deal with everything on your own.”
Clara nodded. “I survived, and now I’m here. I’m glad Jeff took a chance on me and hired me.”
“Me too.” Dawson took another sip of his drink. He’d finished his sandwich already. “I hope things will be better in Pine Valley and that you’ll be happy here.”
The sincerity in his voice was genuine, and Clara felt her heart twinge. “Thanks, Dawson.”
His eyes widened. “Did you call me Dawson?”
Clara smiled. “I did.”
He stood and cleared off their wrappers from the table. “I think that calls for a celebration.”
“What are you talking about?” Clara said with a laugh.
He held out his hand, and she put hers in his. She figured he was just being a gentleman and helping her up from the chair. But he kept ahold of it as he led her outside. She supposed she could have pulled away from his grasp, but she enjoyed the warm strength of it.
“Where are we going?” she asked as they started walking along the street, passing her car and his truck.
“Do you want to check out the bookstore?” he asked, looking down at her. “We could buy matching books for our celebration.”
Clara was having a hard time focusing on anything other than his hand holding hers.
“My mom told me the book they’re doing for book club,” he continued, “and I thought maybe we could read it, too.”
“Dawson, I don’t think so,” Clara said, coming to a stop. “I’m sure your mom is a great lady, but wouldn’t it be sort of presumptuous of us? I mean, it’s not like we’re dating or anything.”
Dawson looked pointedly at their linked fingers. “I’d like to be dating you.”
She looked down at their linked fingers, and slowly she pulled her hand away.
“You did call me Dawson,” he said with an unrepentant grin.
“True,” she said. “I’m not really into PDA, even if you were my boyfriend.”
“Well,” Dawson said, leaning down so that his mouth was close to her ear. “If I were your boyfriend, I’d work really hard to change your mind.”
Warm tingles rushed through Clara at his nearness. His clean, spicy scent was just as she remembered from the other night. It had been rather nice to hold his hand, but she felt like it was giving him too much of an expectation. Regardless, she hoped he couldn’t hear the thudding of her heart. “Current Clara knows that Future Clara won’t agree.”
Dawson drew away with a chuckle. They started walking in the direction of the bookstore again.
“Despite the fact that you’re not taking me seriously,” she said, “I think we can be friends.”
“I’m totally taking you seriously,” he said, raising his hands. “See? No PDA? I’m just wondering how your ex put up with all your rules.”
This thought sobered Clara. “Good question,” she said. “Maybe it was his rule, not mine.”
They’d reached the bookstore, and Dawson paused before opening the door. “Well, if it was his rule, and not yours, that makes me feel a lot better.” He pulled the door open, and Clara passed by him to enter the bookstore.
She wasn’t sure how she’d been talked into coming to the bookstore with Dawson. All she knew was that she had to guard her heart. When she gave Dawson an inch, he was more than happy to take two.
Clara paused by the front display table of new releases while Dawson walked to the rack of magazines. He picked up a Fish & Game magazine. Clara watched him flip through the pages; then she turned back to her own browsing. Only one employee and another customer were in the store. Clara picked up a book and read the back cover, but then realized she hadn’t internalized a thing. It was hard to focus when Dawson was standing only a few feet away.
She had to admit to herself that she liked him, really liked him. Despite their differences.
When another several minutes passed, and when it seemed that Dawson was actually reading an article from the magazine, Clara left her place and joined him at the magazine rack. “So, what’s the book club book you were telling me about?”
He looked up, seeming surprised at the question, when in fact, she knew he wasn’t.
“Hang on, let me see what my mom texted over.” He set the magazine on the shelf in front of him and pulled out his cell from his pocket.
Clara watched his actions and tried to ignore how her stomach had just flipped over.
“She said . . .” He scrolled through messages on his phone. “My Lady Jane. That’s a weird title. Is it another Regency?”
Clara pulled out her own phone and looked up the book on Amazon. She read through the book description. “It’s a historical novel—a parody, it looks like, with some fantasy thrown in.”
“Fantasy? Like Lord of the Rings?”
“Yeah, that’s fantasy,” she said. “It might be interesting.” She clicked the Buy Now button. “Got it.”
“Wait, what?” Dawson said, lean
ing over to look at her phone. “You bought it online?”
“Yeah, the Kindle version.”
He blinked his eyes, and he was so close, she could feel his warm breath tickle her neck. “I thought we were going to buy books together.”
“You can still buy the paperback,” Clara said. “Do you want me to see if they have it in the store?”
Dawson frowned. “Maybe I’ll just get the Kindle version too. Do I have to get a Kindle to read it?”
Clara moved back slightly and leaned against the magazine rack. Dawson was simply too close for her to hold a decent conversation. “You can download the Kindle app on your phone.”
He exhaled. “I think I’d prefer the paperback form. Or is it in hardcover?”
“Let’s ask and find out.”
But Dawson didn’t move, which pretty much meant that Clara was trapped, unless she wanted to brush past him. He had that intense look in his eyes again.
“What?” she prompted.
“I was just wondering what other rules your ex had.”
Dawson was starting to become familiar enough with Clara’s various expressions that he could tell if he was going to get a brush-off from her or an actual answer. When she’d told him that she didn’t like PDA, he’d taken it in stride. Some people didn’t. As for him, he’d had no problem with it. Early in his relationship with Romy, they’d been plenty affectionate in public. But as their marriage wore on, they seemed to see each other less and less, so the opportunities had been few.
Clara saying that her ex had “rules” was hard to ignore, and his curiosity had only been growing by the minute. Was her ex some sort of control freak? If so, then he was glad their relationship had ended. Whether anything worked out between him and Clara, she didn’t deserve that sort of relationship. Besides, she was too smart to get involved with someone like that, right? Although, he’d heard of stories of men dating toxic women, and vice versa.
Right now, she was staring at him like he was crazy, and he knew he wasn’t going to get an answer to his question. Although he didn’t mind her staring at him; he could get used to that pretty quickly.
“It’s probably not fair to compare my ex to another guy,” she said at last. “Everyone’s different, that’s all.”
Say You Love Me Page 6
