“I am so sorry I’m late,” he apologized. “A job got complicated and it took too long to figure out the problem. I needed to get home, take a shower and change. Given how beautiful you look, you wouldn’t have wanted to be seen with me at the end of a long day at work.”
He caught the faint softening in her eyes at his flattery, but she kept right on eating.
“You’re going to spoil your dinner if you finish that sandwich,” he said.
“I’m reconsidering,” she said, speaking at last.
“Reconsidering what?” he asked, though there was little doubt what she meant.
“This whole dinner and a movie thing. I’m pretty sure it’s a terrible idea.”
He grinned. “And I’m equally certain it’s a fabulous idea. Well, maybe not the dinner if you keep on eating now, but seeing a movie. It’ll take your mind off things. And you did say you wanted your own bucket of popcorn.”
She set the remainder of the sandwich back on the plate and regarded him with caution. “With extra butter?”
“However you want it.”
“And a large soda, even if it means I have to visit the restroom every twenty minutes?”
“You can sit on the aisle,” he said. “Take off whenever you need to.”
“I might want candy, too.”
He held back a laugh. With negotiating skills like those, no wonder she’d been a success. “Done,” he said agreeably.
She stood at last. “Okay, then. Let’s go.”
“Are you satisfied that you’ve negotiated a deal you can live with?” he asked.
She appeared to give that some thought before nodding. “Yep. I think that’s it.”
“Okay, here are my demands,” he said, drawing a startled look. “Don’t look so shocked. The other side always has counterdemands. I’m sure you’re aware of that.”
“Fair enough, I suppose,” she said, eyeing him suspiciously. “Tell me.”
“We don’t mention the baby or your job all evening.”
“Done,” she said without hesitation.
“Since I’m skipping dinner, we stop by Boone’s Harbor for dessert after the movie,” he added.
“Sounds reasonable,” she agreed.
“And you forgive me for being late without calling,” he added for good measure.
She met his gaze. “This time,” she said solemnly.
“It won’t happen again,” he assured her. “At least, not without a call.”
He heard a chuckle and realized Samantha had taken in the whole exchange. He frowned at her. “Anything you’d care to add?”
She shook her head. “Nope, I think you two have this under control, though the battle over the candy choices promises to get interesting. I can hardly wait to hear how the rest of the evening goes.”
Gabi frowned at her. “Don’t wait up.”
Samantha’s brows shot up. “My, my, are you thinking of moving things along that fast?”
Her sister gave her a look of dismay. “Stop that. You know that’s not what I meant. I just meant I do not intend to come in here later and fill you in on my evening.”
“Darn,” Samantha said. “I was hoping to live vicariously.”
“Well, forget it,” Gabi told her emphatically, then nodded toward the door. “Let’s get out of here before she starts with some kind of cross-examination. I’m pretty sure Grandmother designated her to be tonight’s interrogator.”
Wade laughed. “Where is Cora Jane?”
“Out with Jerry. Don’t be one bit surprised if they’re in the back row behind us at the movies,” Gabi said, sounding resigned. “Are you beginning to see why I thought this was a bad idea?”
“So far, nothing you’ve said or anything that’s happened has scared me off,” Wade assured her. If anything, knowing how much her family cared about her made him that much more certain that she was a woman worth getting to know.
* * *
“Oh, come on,” Gabi protested as she and Wade were seated at a table by the window at Boone’s Harbor, the flagship restaurant of Boone’s small chain of upscale seafood establishments. “Are you seriously telling me you believed anything about that movie was realistic? It was a glorified cartoon with live action.”
“Okay, so maybe you needed to suspend disbelief just a little,” Wade agreed. “But it was fast-moving and exciting.”
“And that’s all it takes for you to like a movie? Blow up a few things, drive at a breakneck pace through city streets, dangle from a ledge?”
Wade scowled at her. “You agreed to an action movie,” he reminded her.
“I was being polite.”
“Was that it, or were you looking for a choice that we’d wind up fighting about the way we are right now? You get to complain that I have no taste, that I’m insensitive, just a dumb guy, what?”
Gabi laughed. Those were all things she’d intended to throw in his face before she was done. “I may have to take it back. You might be just the teeniest bit sensitive if you picked up on all that.”
“I’ll have you know I was perfectly willing to go to a chick flick tonight,” he said, his expression stoic.
“Oh, really?”
He pulled a wad of tissues from his pocket. “See. I was totally prepared for the tears.”
Gabi regarded him with astonishment. “You’re actually serious.”
“Of course I am. I did not foist this movie on you, Gabriella. You picked it.”
“Then I will take all the blame for selecting something mindless and unbelievable. You can hold it over my head, if you like.”
“How about this? Next time, I’ll choose the movie. I bet I can come closer to picking something you’ll like than you did making a choice for me.”
Just then the waitress came over to take their orders. “Hey, Wade,” she said, giving him a friendly wink. “Are you having dinner or just drinks?”
He glanced at Gabi. “Feel like a meal or just coffee and dessert?”
“It’s probably sacrilegious or something in a seafood restaurant, but I could actually eat a burger,” she admitted. “I’m starved again.”
“Two burgers, then,” Wade told the waitress. “What to drink, Gabi?”
“Just water.”
“And I’ll have a beer,” he said.
“Sure thing.”
“Is Boone around?” Gabi asked.
“Actually, he left about a half hour ago with his fiancée.”
Gabi grinned. “That would be my sister.”
The woman’s
