Vision in White (Bride Quartet #1)(39)

       
         
       
        

She frowned, obviously trying to place it. "I don't know that one. Who wrote it? Steinbeck? Fitzgerald? Yeats?"

"Stephen King. It's based on his novella The Body."

"Seriously? You read King? He scares the crap out of me, but I can't resist it. Wait! That's the one with the kids, the boys hiking to look for somebody, some dead guy, who maybe got hit by a train? I'm remembering this. Kiefer Sutherland plays a complete asshole hood. He was great."

"It's about friendship and loyalty. Coming of age, standing together."

"You're right," she said, studying his face. "It is. I bet you're a really amazing teacher."

"Some days."

She nudged her plate aside, then leaned back with her wine. "What do you do when you're not teaching, reading, or watching movies based on novels or novellas?"

"That's a lot right there."

"Golf, rock climbing, stamp collecting?"

He smiled, shook his head. "No."

"International intrigue, watercolors, duck hunting?"

"I had to give up the international intrigue due to travel fatigue. I'm pretty boring."

"No, you're not. And believe me I keep expecting you to be."

"Ah . . . thank you?"

She leaned forward to poke a finger in his arm, leaned back again. "All right, Carter, now that you've indulged in-good God-nearly three-quarters of a single glass of wine-"

"I'm driving."

"At the speed limit," she agreed. "It's time to tell me about Corrine."

"Oh, well, there's really nothing to tell."

She saw it, just a flicker of it in his eyes. "She hurt you. I'm sorry. I'm insensitive and pushy."

"No, you're not. And I keep expecting you to be."

She smiled. "Look how cute you are in your smarty-pants. Now why don't you order dessert, so I can pretend to be self-righteous and not-then eat half of yours?"

They lingered. She'd forgotten what it was like to have a meal with a man she could have long, twisty conversation with. One who listened, who paid attention-whether or not he was thinking about the possible bonus round at the end of the evening.

He made her think, she realized. And entertained her. And damn it, the man was charming, in such a low-key, unstudied way.

Plus, when he'd put his glasses on to read the menu, it just set her juices on simmer.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" he asked her when they walked back to the car. "It's probably too late for a movie. A club?" 

"I clubbed out with the pals the other night." Another time though, she thought. It occurred to her she might've been very wrong in assuming Carter Maguire wouldn't fit in the club scene. "I should get back. I've put in a few long ones this week, and I have work to catch up on tomorrow."

He opened her door. "Are you going to see me again?"

It gave her a little jump in the belly that he'd ask, and just that way. Giving her the power, she thought. Terrifying. "I'm thinking about it."

"Okay."

When he'd joined her, started the car, she angled toward him. "Top five reasons you want to see me again."

"Do they have to be in order of priority?"

Damn it, damn it, she really liked him. "No. Just quick, top of your head answers."

"Okay. I like the way you talk. I like the way you look. I want to know more about you. I want to sleep with you. And when I'm with you, I feel."

"Feel what?"

"Just feel."

"Those are good answers," she said after a moment. "Really good answers."

"Are you going to give me your five?"

"I'm still working on them. But in the interest of full disclosure, you should know I'm good on a date, but tend to grade lower on relationships."

"I don't see that. How can you when you've had lifelong relationships with your three friends? Layers of relationships with them."

"I don't have sex with them."

"That's an interesting disclaimer, but intimacy's only a part of relationships that go beyond friendship. It doesn't define them."

"Come on, Carter, sex is a whopper. Not to mention the work and effort that goes into maintaining a relationship that includes it. But just to focus on sex for a minute."

"I'm not sure that's smart when I'm driving."

"What if we hit that level, and it's a bust? What then?"

"Well, I'd first apply the basic rule. Most things improve with practice. I'd be willing to practice quite a bit."

"Cute. But if it isn't a bust, that's when things start getting complicated."