My Name Is Venus Black(46)
“What can I get you?” I ask him.
He pretends to scan the pastries. “What is that one with yellow?”
“Lemon filling.”
“Is it good?”
“I like it,” I say. “I think you’ve had it before.”
“Oh wow,” he exclaims. “So she remembers what I like.”
Clearly, us going out for ice cream with Danny got his hopes up all over again. And maybe for just a second it had gotten mine up, too—until I found out he was a cop. Who could discover the truth about me faster or more easily?
Now I don’t really have a choice but to get him to move on. And the sooner the better.
Julie has finished with her own customer and now she comes over to join us. “You gotta try our new brownie,” she tells Danny.
“Really?”
“It’s awesome. Perfect mix of moist and chewy. I’m recommending it to all my favorite customers.” She’s smiling at Danny in a way that makes me realize she’s flirting. It’s my customer, so why is she butting in?
Danny doesn’t seem to notice, though. “I’m trying to talk Annette here into having a cup of coffee with me on her next break,” he tells Julie.
I frown. “No, he’s not.”
“Well, don’t be rude, Annette,” says Julie slyly. “Remember, the customer comes first. And you can take that break anytime you want.”
“Thanks a lot,” I tell her.
“So, why don’t you like me?” Danny asks after Julie’s walked away. “Is it the nose?”
I shake my head, smiling. “No, of course not,” I tell him. “I like your nose fine. And it’s not that I don’t like you. But I’m not…How come you don’t just give up?”
“Give up?” He seems to think about this for a moment. “Maybe I’m not convinced there’s no hope,” he says.
An awkward moment passes and he tries again. “What if we were just friends? I promise on a holy stack of flapjacks that I won’t make a move on you.”
“?‘A holy stack of flapjacks’?” I bust out laughing. “That’s a weird one.”
“So what’s your answer?”
I sigh heavily. “It’s not you; it’s only that I heard the whole let’s-just-be-friends thing doesn’t work, at least not for the guy, anyway.”
“What? You think you’re so damn irresistible? Like I can’t resist your charms? What if I’m only looking for a friend, too?”
“Touché,” I concede. “You have me there.”
“I wish I did,” he says wistfully, and I feel myself blushing hard. Now it feels like we really are flirting. What am I doing? This poor guy has no idea how screwed up I am. And as much as I like him, the way he glances at my body makes me feel something close to panic.
“So it’s decided,” he declares out of nowhere. “Dinner. Movie. Tomorrow night. Just friends. Simple as that.” He pauses to put a napkin to his mouth to catch a bit of brownie.
“Really? You think it’s that simple?” I ask. “You are a pushy guy,” I say.
Of course, when I don’t outright say no, Danny takes this for a yes. Then he turns into a gentleman and insists I don’t have to come if I don’t want to, which instinctively makes me reassure him that I do.
How did he do that?
* * *
—
PIPER IS BESIDE herself excited that I am going on a date. “You’re going to wet your pants if you don’t stop prancing around,” I tell her.
The idea of wetting one’s pants triggers that memory of when I wet my pants the night of my arrest. It seems like just yesterday and also like a hundred years ago.
When Danny picks me up at the house, it’s all a blur of my quiet nervousness and Piper’s constant yapping. Once inside the movie theater, I admit that popcorn would be good. Not only because I love popcorn, but also it will give me a way to occupy my hands in case he has any ideas about holding one of them. While Danny gets in the concession line, I find us seats.
When the lights finally go down, I feel a small thrill. Danny has bought himself Jujubes, that awful gummy candy that sticks in your teeth. He smells good, though I can’t decide if it’s from cologne or a musky deodorant or soap. On the way here in the car, I noticed that his hair still looked a little damp. He’s more handsome without the cap.
During the previews, I watch his hands out of the corner of my eye. He has long fingers, smooth nails. I wonder what he looks like when he’s up close enough to kiss. If you would still notice his nose so much.
At dinner, there’s an awkward moment when Danny orders wine for us and the waiter cards me. I don’t want to use Annette’s license, since she’s not twenty-one—and I told Danny that I was. Thinking quickly, I volunteer that I lost my license and hadn’t bothered getting a new one yet since I don’t own a car. The waiter lets me order wine anyway, which I barely sip.
In order to deflect the conversation away from me, I ask Danny questions about his family, background, and hobbies. I learn that his mom and dad are both realtors. He’s got two sisters, both of whom live in Los Angeles. He’s crazy about college basketball, though he never played himself. He grew up in Springfield, Oregon, until he was eighteen. After graduating from the University of Washington, he enrolled at the police academy. He likes Bob Marley. He likes Jujubes. And, apparently—he likes me.