Page 22 of Hard Deal
“Oh God, Imogen. I’m so sorry.” He raked a hand through his hair and shook his head. “What a bastard.”
“I was young and naive.” She shrugged. “I thought he loved me, but he proved that everyone had been right. I was too young, I didn’t know what I was doing and I shouldn’t have gotten married.”
“Your parents gave you a hard time?”
“They were supportive considering they’d warned me off him. But a few of my aunts and uncles were quite vocal. They baulked at the age difference and thought I should have waited longer. It was kind of a whirlwind.” She sighed. “But you think you’re invincible at that age.”
“It certainly explains why you’re going to such extremes to find out about Daniel.”
“I know it seems over the top, but I’ve tried to talk to Penny and she won’t listen. I was exactly the same before I got married. Wouldn’t even consider that I might be wrong about my future husband.” She sighed. “But now I have hindsight, and if I can save Penny from getting her heart broken then it’s worth being a little crazy.”
They ate their desserts in silence for a moment before she looked at him with a sheepish grin. “See, this isn’t a real date. I’ve already veered into inappropriate conversation.”
He chuckled. “I’m quite fond of inappropriate things.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” She cocked her head, studying him for a moment. Her intensity stirred his blood in all the right places. Normally Imogen glossed over him, her eyes always darting away or focusing on something else. But now she looked at him like she could really see him, for the first time. “Why aren’t you in a relationship?”
“I haven’t found the right person. And, contrary to popular belief, I also have high standards.”
“And yet here you are with me,” Imogen joked. But he wasn’t about to let her hide behind self-deprecating humour.
“The only way I could convince you to come on a date was to swap a favour. If I wasn’t interested, why would I have bothered? I’ll be honest, I’m not hard up for dates but I’d never say yes if I didn’t feel any attraction.”
“Are you saying you’re attracted to me?” Her brows shot up.
Was she that blind?
“You want me to spell it out? You’re far sexier than you give yourself credit for. All those jokes I’ve made about us getting together weren’t really jokes and I think you have a kick-ass personality. I appreciate that you’re smart and hardworking, and it gets me quite hot and bothered that you have this prim and proper thing going on when I get the distinct impression it’s nothing but an act.”
Imogen’s mouth hung open. “Okay, wow.”
“Too much?”
“I...” She took a gulp of her wine. “Well, like I said when we were in the archive room, you’d only ever teased me. So I assumed it was because you were joking.”
“For such a smart woman you’re pretty terrible at picking up on signals.”
“Lack of experience,” she said. “I guess when men don’t throw many signals in your direction it’s difficult to decipher them.”
That was an easy fix. Caleb dropped his spoon down next to the unfinished dessert and stood.
“Come on,” he said, holding out a hand. “Let’s get you some signal practice.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
IMOGEN HAD EXPERIENCED a few key types of dates since forcing herself to get back into the scene a year ago. There was the “bad match” date where conversation halted more than it flowed. Awkward, and usually done by 9:00 p.m.
There was the “oh dear God this is so bad someone is probably live-tweeting us right now” date, which she’d experienced twice. The first time with a guy who’d quizzed her like it was a job interview, and the second with a doctor who thought it important to tell her that they should skip dessert for “the sake of her health.”
Lastly, there were the dates that seemed positive until it came to the end of the night, when it was clear things wouldn’t be going further. She liked to think of these as Gandalf dates. You shall not pass.
They were the most disappointing ones of all, because Imogen usually saw potential. Unfortunately, she wasn’t good at holding people’s interest.
Until tonight.
After cutting dessert short, Caleb dragged her to a club that managed to avoid all the things she hated about regular clubs. There was no questionably sticky carpet, no jostling at the bar, no beefcakes invading her personal space. It was classy, fun...and sexy.
The people in this club were impossibly attractive. The entry line snaked down the street, but Caleb sailed past it with her by his side. After a quick joke with the bouncer they were in. A stone settled in the back of her throat. This was exactly how things had started with her ex—the fancy venues, being swept away and treated like a princess...