Playing It Safe(24)

“Yes,” he says with a smile.

“Yeah, I kind of noticed.”

“So,” he says and puts his hands in his pockets. “About dinner.”

“What about it?” I ask.

“You’re staying.”

“Why should I?”

“Because it’s a good idea,” he says.

“Is that right?” I ask, trying my hardest not to grin.

“Yes, it is,” he says confidently. “I know you want to stay, Julia, so just say yes and get it over with.”

A slew of thoughts hits me, none of which are all too unpleasant either. But the one that rises above all others is that there is no way I can do this. I know myself, and granny panties be damned, this could spell trouble. And do I really want to ruin whatever this friendship is between us? Granted, I tend to believe in the whole When Harry Met Sally theory that men and women can never truly be friends because the sex part always gets in the way. Still, whatever it is we have that is a semblance of friendship, I don’t want to lose that either. Damn Nora Ephron and her stupid wise words that I’ve memorized for totally being a buzzkill right about now.

“Alex …”

“Julia …” he mimics, amused at my discomfort.

He steps into my personal space, and not for nothing, but if there is one thing I’ve noticed about Alex recently it’s that the guy likes to get all up in my grill. Worse is that I never back away, so this technique of his is obviously paying off in the long run.

“Before you say anything about what a bad idea it is, because I know that’s what you’re thinking,” he continues, “stop thinking so much and tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when I ask you again if you’ll stay for dinner with me.”

“You didn’t ask me the first time.”

He smiles, and dammit if those dimples aren’t the key to breaking through my last bit of resolve. “Fair enough. Would you please stay and have dinner with me?”

“Um …” I know, that’s top quality answering right there, but that’s how tongue-tied he makes me sometimes.

“Um is not an answer. Whatever comes in your head first is the only answer I want to hear come out of your mouth.”

His eyes dart to my mouth for a moment before bringing his gaze back to mine. The look in them is somewhere along the lines of amused and sinful. It’s a dangerous blend, especially for me since I do love me a good challenge. I may regret this later, but what the hell, right?

“Yes.”

“Good answer.”

Alex walks away to lock his door, keeping me inside before I can change my mind. If it wasn’t for the gratified expression on his face, I might be running for the hills. But obviously I’m thinking with my nether regions, and they are begging to come out and play. And if I listen closely, I can hear them too. It sounds like those freaky-looking British twins in The Shining: “Come and play with us, Alex … forever and ever and ever.”

Yeah, I think it’s safe to say that when my vagina starts speaking to me in creepy voices, that can only be a sure sign that things have taken a turn for the worse.





CHAPTER NINE


Right off the bat, I’ve learned a couple of things about Alex after being sucked into staying for dinner with him. One, he doesn’t cook. And two, he knows how to make me feel like the center of attention but not at all in a disturbing kind of way.

Once I agreed to stay, it took us a few minutes to decide what to order for dinner. He said he knew a really good Chinese place that would deliver, and I agreed because everybody knows good Chinese food is hard to come by. He asked if I wanted to look over the menu, but again, everybody knows all Chinese restaurants have the same exact menu, so why bother?

I rattled off my order—steamed chicken and broccoli with garlic sauce on the side—without a moment’s hesitation. He chuckled as he picked up his phone to call it in, and I thought it was odd that he found my order funny. That is until he ordered the same exact thing for himself. Apparently, we are Chinese food soul mates. Who would have seen that one coming?

While we wait for the food to arrive, which the Chinese place said would take about fifteen to twenty minutes, as is the standard answer for every single delivery from any Chinese place no matter where the hell you live, I feel more at ease and ask if he’ll give me a tour of his house. Part of me is still dying of curiosity from the moment I got here earlier today to see the rest of it, because believe it or not, your home says a lot about you as a person. No, it’s true, I saw that shit on Oprah. That guy, Nate something or other, was doing a room makeover in some lucky viewer’s house, and he said the exact same thing. And you all know that if it was on Oprah, it’s like the closest thing to gospel.

So off I go, following Alex as he starts showing me the rest of his house, ready to see what it says about him. From what I’ve already seen in the living room and kitchen area alone, it’s telling me that he has great taste. Going down the hallway that had piqued my interest earlier, there are several framed photographs. They look to be of his family, but mostly of Vanessa and Josie. Before reaching the first door, there are a few photographs clumped together of Alex with a bunch of guys. Let me rephrase that so you can appreciate it more: photographs of Alex with a bunch of super-hot guys. One photo is of them on the beach, another is in Las Vegas, another snowboarding, and another fishing on a boat.