“I mean, think about it. Yes, we’ve known each other for over a year and we’ve slept together. But it hasn’t exactly been a normal boy-meets-girl, has it? I know how you act in an emergency and how well you do your job but I don’t know what the M stands for in your name or whether you like to dance or swim.”
She waved her fork around as she continued with the list. “I don’t know whether you’re a morning or a night person. Where you went to college. Whether you went to college. I don’t even know how old you are, much less when your birthday is. Somehow we never got around to that kind of thing, what with a murder trial and drug dealers battering down my door.”
He laughed. “I guess I agree. Well, except for the sleeping together part. I don’t recall any sleeping that night.” He ignored her eye roll. “I admit we’ve done things in reverse but didn’t you say you’d make an exception for me.”
“That was about a piece of art, Sam, not relationships or sex or what-ever-it-is we’re talking about now.”
“So, what would you like to do for the rest of the evening?”
“How about we finish our dinner and then go home and have dessert. We can talk about it.” Before he could answer, she said, “There’s ice cream in the freezer and my roommate is gone for the weekend.”
“You’ve convinced me. And, since you asked: October 9th and I’m thirty-six. The M is for Martin, my mother’s family name. I swim okay but I grew up on a ranch so I’m better on horseback than in the water. I have a business degree from the University of Oregon and I’ll let you find out on your own about the morning/night thing. Maybe even soon.”
“What?”
“You said you didn’t know those things about me. Now you do. Except for the last one.”
“Oh.” When what he meant about “the last one” finally sunk in, she smiled. “Oh!”
“Your turn.”
She laughed. “What is this, the Cliff Notes approach to dating?” When he nodded she continued. “Okay, well — February 14th and I’m twenty-seven.”
“Oh, hell. I thought you just looked young. You really are young, aren’t you?”
“You make it sound like I’m jail bait.”
He started to say something but she stopped him. “Do you want to hear the rest or not?” He nodded. “My middle name is for my godmother and I hate it although I love her. But if I tell you, I expect that you will never, and I mean never, use it.” She waited until he acknowledged the ground rule. “Okay, it’s Minerva.”
It was obvious he was trying hard not to laugh. “That’ll be an easy promise to keep. I can’t think of any circumstances under which I’d call you Minerva.”
“Good. And for the rest — I love to dance. I’m a pretty good swimmer but I grew up with horses so I’d rather ride, too. I have an arts degree from Reed College. I’m more a morning person although I do all right at night if I have a good reason to be up.”
He raised an eyebrow at the last response.
“Oh, please. I meant that if I get involved in something I enjoy, I can be a night person.”
“That’s what I meant, too.”