That’s okay, he thought as he surveyed her legs which were crossed but still sticking out from the small table. She had possibly the sexiest set of legs he’d ever seen, and on such a short body, he was impressed. He wasn’t sure about the absolute sexiest though. He’d have to get a better view of them for a good comparison.
When the waitress arrived to take their order, Claire still wasn’t ready. She’d tried to read the menu, but with him staring at her like that, she couldn’t concentrate. He must have known she was still undecided because he picked up his menu and glanced down to remind himself of his own preference, then he casually told the waitress that Claire would have the cheeseburger with extra fries. Her mouth watered at the idea, but it was mighty presumptuous of him to take the decision out of her hands.
“What if I don’t eat meat?” she asked, shoving the menu back into the holder that was leaning against the wall. “That was pretty rude of you to order for me.”
“It was expeditious since you hadn’t decided. Besides, you don’t strike me as a vegetarian.” His eyes moved over her features, then down her shirt, taking it all in and making that pulse leap once more into overdrive. “Are you?” he asked softly.
Claire’s hand moved to her blouse and she pulled the edges together, feeling a bit odd and hot despite the cool air of the quaintly intimate restaurant. “No. But my point was that you don’t even know my name, so why would you assume that I wanted a cheeseburger?”
He shrugged his shoulder slightly and took a sip of his iced tea. “You do though, don’t you?”
Claire sighed and waved off the argument. “It’s fine, as good as any of the sandwiches I suppose. You’re missing the point.”
“The point being that you haven’t told me your name?”
She rolled his eyes at his intended obtuseness. “My name is Claire,” she said and almost stuck her hand out with a formal introduction, but she didn’t want to touch him. She wasn’t sure why, but the heat she could feel coming across the table from him wouldn’t be good to experience firsthand, no pun intended. “What do you do, Mitch?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“This and that.”
She shook her head. “That’s an evasive answer. Tell me specifically what you do and we’ll start this conversation over again.”
“I have my own company. What do you do?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I love to bake,” she said, adding in her own evasiveness since his response was so deliberately vague.
“Back at you, doll. Specifics.”
“Brownies. I absolutely love baking brownies!” she enthused. No change in his expression, she noticed. Leaning forward, she was intrigued despite herself. Men usually gushed all over the place trying to impress her with their careers and importance. “You don’t appear to be dazzled but you’ve got to taste my brownies before you judge. I put extra chocolate chips in them, sometimes white chocolate if I want really sweet ones, then I bake them only about half the time suggested on the box.”
He smiled slightly. “I’m guessing that, just like a recipe or cooking times, you consider most rules only suggestions or guidelines.”
She was a bit taken aback by that description, not sure if it was flattering or not. The look in his eyes suggested that he liked a slightly rebellious personality, but his body language told her a different story. “Why do you say that?”
He shrugged slightly. “You strike me as the type of person who would go charging into situations that are dangerous and figure that out too late.”
She smiled brightly, instantly complimented. “That’s a really sweet thing for you to say.”
He chuckled, the sound deep and vibrant, skimming along her skin and making her tingle with excitement. “That wasn’t’ a compliment.”
She leaned forward, her arms on the table as she considered him for a moment. “Are you the rules kind of guy or do you color outside the lines?”
“Depends on the situation. Can you give me an example?”
“At work. Do you reach for the sky and try and do things differently from all your competitors? Or do you sneak around the edges and hope no one notices you creeping up on them?” She looked at him carefully and shook her head. “I don’t think either one.”
He raised one eyebrow. “So you think you can interpret my business style simply from our short meeting.”
She shrugged and leaned back. “You thought I wanted a cheeseburger and you didn’t even know my name.”
“Ah, but that’s different.”
“How so?”
“You glanced over at the man’s plate by the doorway when we walked in and hesitated.”
She looked taken aback. “I did not!”
“You did. It was small, but you did, and that’s why I knew you wanted a cheeseburger. I didn’t need to know your name to discern your lunch preference.”
Claire turned around and looked at the man by the door. Sure enough, she remembered him and he was biting into a very juicy cheeseburger as she watched. Her mouth watered just at the sight of him biting down and she sighed. “Okay. I’ll give you that one.”
He barely moved but she noticed the amusement in his eyes. She narrowed her own brown ones and looked across the table at him. The waitress arrived at that moment with their food and Claire watched as he politely smiled at the waitress, who was definitely trying to get his attention, but then turned back to her, waiting for her to finish her thought.
Despite the warm, tingly feeling that started in her stomach when he dismissed another woman in preference for her, she still didn’t trust him. “I would wager that you’re the sneaky kind. You tend to blind side your competition and they don’t even know that you are invading their turf or business area before you’ve taken over their territory.”
He didn’t respond to her comment but instead bit into his sandwich which looked almost as delicious as her cheeseburger.
“Am I right?” she asked, wrapping her hands around the very large burger and taking a bite, savoring the burst of juice and flavor. Even the cheese was delicious, and not an ordinary cheddar or American style. This was definitely something different and she loved it. “Oh wow,” she said, wiping the edges of her mouth with her napkin. “This is incredible! I think this just became my favorite lunchtime place.”