Free Love Therapy (Stanton Falls #2) by Kaci Hart Page B

the love songs on the radio, it just didn’t correlate to the examples I
was seeing in real life.”

 
    “I can understand that.
 I never knew that about you.”

 
    “Of course you didn’t.
 How could you.  Women who are abused or deal with it don’t wear a
sign saying to handle with care, we just have to either hope that we find the
right guy or avoid them all together. I chose to always avoid it so I never
even dated until college and then it was just to get my friends to leave me
alone.”

 
    “I imagine that must
have been hard.  Especially when there were guys you must have at least
liked when you were younger.”

 
    “Not really. To be
honest, I have always been the type of person that could do anything I decided
as far as my emotions were concerned.  Plus I didn’t really find any guys
I was really attracted to here in town so it was easy.   What about
you?  Don’t tell me you are a hopeless romantic.  Cute guy like you
probably the town playboy.”

 
    “Not quite.  To be
honest I have the worst time talking to women.  I never really know what
to say or what’s really cool.  That’s part of the reason I never really
asked you out back when you worked at the diner.  By the time I got ready
to make my move, you had left town.”

 
    “Nick, I’m sorry.
 It sounds like you said you wanted to ask me out a few years ago.”

 
    “Yeah.  Even with
all the flirting we did, I just didn’t know what to say to you...”

 
    Donna looked at Nick
with confusion and humor in her eyes.  She waited for his punch line but
there was none.  

 
    “You’re joking right?
 Tell me you are joking.”

 
    “Of course not.”

 
    “Nick when did we ever
flirt?”
    “When?  Get
serious.  You used to flirt with me all the time.  Aaron and I would
come in and you would always come serve us pretty quickly.  You’d be all
like ‘How y’all boys doing today’ or ‘What can I get
for my favorite customer today.’  That was me.  The favorite
customer.”

 
    “Oh my God you are too
cute right now.”

 
    “What do you mean?”

 
    “I wasn’t looking at you
like that Nick.  I told you that dating was the furthest from my mind at
the time.  Your timing was way off.”

 
    “No way.  Not
possible.  Even Aaron was sure you had a thing for me back then.”

 
    She almost spat her
drink out as she laughed at him.

 
    “Well I’m glad you
didn’t ask me out back then.  I was much harsher about dating at the time
and wouldn’t have cared in the least bit how you felt.  You probably
wouldn’t have been able to get the nerve to ask me out again and we would have
missed out on this wonderful time.  I would have definitely given you a no
back then.”

 
    “I really can’t believe
that.”

 
    “Sometimes the timing is
just wrong.”

 
    “Yep, but sometimes it
right as well.  Seriously though. Not even one date?”

 
    “ Nopers .”

 
    “Then tell me.  Why
were you so unbelievably nice to me?”

 
    “Um hello.
 Waitress, living off tips to pay for school.  Big tipper gets the
most love.   It’s waitressing one-on-one my
friend. “

 
    Nick looked away from
her, slightly embarrassed.

 
    “Don’t tell me that all
that time, you thought I was trying to come on to you?  Now that is a
riot.”

 
    “Hey, hey come on now.
 Man here with an ego and all.  You can’t go laughing at my charms.
 At least not one date in.”

 
    “Ooooh, I’m sooo sorry. If it’s any consolation, I did think you were
cute back then.  With your long beard and sideburns.”

 
    “See.  That’s what
I’m talking about.  The charms were working.”

 
    “You could say that.
 In fact, you were the cutest guy in town so even though I never really
had thought about dating anyone, if that had changed I am at least ninety nine
percent sure that you would have been the guy.  How’s that?”

 
    Almost immediately he
shouted louder