Chapter Eight
“So is this where you wine and dine all the women who take you up on your all-you-can-eat hot dog offer?” I teased as the hostess left with Billy’s jacket. He rolled up his sleeves and sat down. When I’d been here the other night I actually never made it inside the restaurant. I just circulated around the party goers outdoors.
A glint of mischief sparkled in his eyes, and he shook his head.
“It’s not all-you-can-eat. And you’d be surprised how few women I actually—”
I held up my hand to cut him off.
“It’s always best to start every relationship off with honesty, and word on the street is that your hot dog shenanigans have been used for eons with great success.”
“I don’t know who’s spreading these horrid lies about me, but…” He let out a weary sigh. “But I suppose I’m just a man trying to find a special woman the only way I know how.”
“With free hot dogs.” I gave a quick nod in agreement.
“In some instances.” He took a sip of water, but his eyes never left mine.
“Does it work?”
“Does what work?” His lip curled slightly.
“Your hot dog trick.”
“More often than I ever would have thought.” He sounded surprised with his confession, which made me laugh.
“Did you know you’re quite the legend on Hound Island?”
“How so?”
I loved seeing the smile in his eyes.
“No one knows whether or not all the numbers you collect get any use,” I informed him.
His laughter filled the intimate restaurant, and I wanted to absorb the sound as the server came to take our drink order. After he left, I leaned in a little.
“So? Do they get any use?” It felt like I had a permanent grin on my face.
I finally felt completely at ease. I knew he was headed out of state, and I’d be gone before he ever returned, and for some reason, that’s all it took to get me to relax and enjoy his company.
He tapped his finger on the table and drew a breath. “I do collect quite a few.”
“Collecting is different than actually calling the numbers you get.”
“What guy in his right mind wouldn’t call the numbers he collects?”
“I’m guessing the same kind of guy who’ll keep asking out a woman who says no because he’s a betting man.”
“A betting man?” He looked intrigued.
“I don’t think you ever expected me to say yes to dinner.”
He rubbed his chin and nodded. “You’re right about that.”
“So I think you like to play it safe, kind of like I generally do. I don’t think you call any of those women.”
He ran his tongue slowly along his bottom lip as he thought about my assessment.
“Well? Am I at least halfway right?” I giggled. “Because I’d say most people on the island think you do call those women and…”
“And what?” His eyes stayed locked on mine, and I prayed the warmth I felt spreading up my body wouldn’t show.
“You know.” I shrugged.
“Would it matter?” He cocked his head.
“Would what matter?”
“If I called them or spent the night with them?”
My heart fluttered the way spent the night fell off his tongue. I immediately imagined what it would be like to be the one spending the night with him. The thought made my thighs tingle in an embarrassing way. He caught me squirming in my seat and smiled.
“Well?” he asked again.
“We haven’t even gotten through dinner. I don’t know if it would bother me if you’d spent the night with a ton of women or not. It’s really not my business.”
Yes. Yes, it would bother me a ton, especially if I didn’t get to be one of them.
“Interesting.” He seemed far too amused by this conversation and it was my fault for bringing it up. “Because I can tell you right now the thought of you sleeping with any other man would drive me insane.”
I nearly choked on his confession and leaned back in my seat, welcoming the glass of wine our server dropped off before taking our meal order.
“Would it really?” I said nearly breathless and completely shocked at my reaction to his confession.
“Without a doubt.”
I hid a smile and swirled the wine in my glass.
“I don’t call the women,” he said simply.
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Then why collect the numbers?” I asked, even though my mind was still stuck on him wanting to be the only man to sleep with me. Did he mean like ever or just now?
“It’s complicated.”
“But completely fascinating.” I grinned and took another sip of my pinot grigio. “You do realize that everyone is dying to know whether it’s a charade or—”
“I think you were dying to know.”
“Possibly.”
“And now that you know, does that change the way you think about me?”
“I never gave it much thought,” I lied, as the server placed my salad in front of me.
“Didn’t sound that way to me.” He thanked the server and a few seconds of silence hung between us.
The quiet wasn’t uncomfortable. It was nice.
“Okay, I confess.” I brought my gaze back to his. “I was a little curious and it makes me feel a lot better knowing you aren’t a floozy.”
“A floozy?” He let out a low chuckle and I ate it up.
“Yeah. I rarely date so the thought of ending up with one…” I twisted my mouth into a lopsided grin. “Didn’t sound so appealing.”
“I love how your mind works.” He took a bite of salad. “And that you can keep all those crazy thoughts from me.”
“Well, we’ve only just met.” I took a bite of the salad with raspberry vinaigrette and let out a little moan of approval. His eyes immediately heated. “Give me time and I’m an open book.”
I took another bite of salad and closed my eyes, enjoying the flavors. When I blinked them open, he was taking me in and I blushed immediately.
“Sorry. I just love seasonal salads.”
“I can see that.”
“So, you’re a guy who likes to give off the image of collecting the numbers and conquering—”
“No, I’m the guy who likes to make people happy and giving away free hot dogs happens to do that.”
“You’re just a philanthropist,” I teased.
“Absolutely.” He nodded.
“Seriously though. You supposedly don’t call any of these women and you kept asking me out because you never thought I’d say yes.”
He didn’t answer, so I kept going.
“And I only accepted your dinner invitation because I knew you were headed out of town…”
“Ouch.” He clutched his chest, laughing.
“It sounds like this is a match made in heaven.” I wiggled my nose and his eyes filled with pure intrigue.
“Or God’s cruel sense of humor again.”
“Well, he’s got to do something up there to keep himself amused.” I finished my salad and thought about whether Billy was telling the truth.
Just looking at him made most women think of sex, I was sure of it, and most certainly wouldn’t turn that invitation down, so why did I believe he actually didn’t call? Wishful thinking?
“Tell me more about your family,” he said, watching me carefully.
“There’s not too much tell. I had a pretty boring—”
“Stable,” Billy interrupted and I smiled.
“Yes, stable upbringing. The most exciting thing that tended to happen in our town was the annual rodeo or carnival that made its way through.” The server took our empty salad plates and refilled my wine. “It was a small school. Everyone knew everyone.”
“Kind of like the island.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, realizing why I might feel so comfortable here. “We had horses growing up so we were into 4H and all that.”
“So you’ve always loved animals?”
I guess I had.
“When I was in junior high I thought I wanted to be a vet until our assignment was to shadow one.” A shiver ran down my spine.
“What happened?”
“My neighbor’s dog got hit by a car and he passed away in surgery.” I felt my throat tighten and cursed the tears. I’d probably look like a lunatic crying about a pup that wasn’t even mine.
“That had to be traumatic.”
My eyes moved to his.
“Yeah. It was.” I nodded. “Suffice it to say I decided I didn’t want to be a vet. I was heartbroken for months.”
He nodded. “That would be rough. Besides the horses, did you have any other pets growing up?”
“Dogs, mainly. I got my very first puppy when I was seven. It was a chocolate lab named Buster. What about you?”
“Not really.” He looked a little uncomfortable, shifting slightly in his chair. “We had a couple, but they always seemed to vanish.”
My brows furrowed. “What do you mean vanish?”
“Exactly that. I never knew where they went. I’d come home from school one day and they’d be gone.”
“Did your parents ever tell you what happened to them?”
He cleared his throat and looked relieved that the server returned with our dinner. He set the halibut down in front of me and the filet mignon in front of Billy.
“No.”
“That’s strange.”
Billy nodded and let out a sigh. The smile left his gaze as he cut into his steak.
“Do you and Stone ever talk about what happened to your pets?”
“We’ve mentioned it, but neither of us knew.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Just another typical day growing up in the Sanderson household.” When his gaze met mine, I saw a dart of pain and my heart fell. There was a lot he wasn’t telling me. Not that I expected him to, considering this was our first date, but it made me wonder what all he’d gone through growing up. “But, I’m glad you got to keep all your pets.”
I nodded and took a bite of the halibut. It was truly delicious.
“I can see why Chance’s restaurant is so popular.”
“He’s a talented chef.”
I took another bite and moaned my agreement.
“How do you know him?”
“We’ve known each far too long.” He took a sip of his water. “He knows way too much dirt.”
“So there is dirt?”
“A little.” He grinned and all the light came back into his gaze. “We did the whole crazy chef thing together in Portland. Worked late, partied even later, slept even later. But I never missed a shift.”
I glanced at the intricate ink on his forearms, and my stomach fluttered wondering where else he might have the artwork as little pieces of his past came to light.
“Yeah.” He caught my look. “I have a lot of tattoos. Started getting them straight out of school when I could finally afford them in between going out and drinking.”
“So you partied a lot?”
“Too much.” His voice lowered. “Far too much for anyone’s good, especially anyone I cared about.”
I caught a trace of sadness run through his words, but he quickly recovered.
“So needless to say, after I about wore myself out down in Portland with my brother, Chance and a few other shady characters, I found my way to Hound Island and hunkered in for the duration.”
“Except when you’re gallivanting around town trying to give away your hot dogs.”
“Only in hopes of meeting that special someone.”
“But how would you ever know if you never called them?” I laughed.
“That’s a valid point.” He grinned.
“What made you choose hot dogs?”
His eyes brightened. “No one has ever asked me that.”
“Really? Seems like an obvious question.”
His smile only widened. “To some.” He took another bite of steak and looked out the window over the lit garden. “Truthfully, I wanted something that had a low start-up cost and I knew gourmet dogs could be delicious if presented the right way. Most places that sell them do so as an afterthought. I wanted to source the best, organic nitrate-free sausages and dogs I could.”
I smiled and nodded, seeing the pride roll up in him. It was nice to see.
“I honestly never expected it to take off like it did.”
“It makes sense, though. I mean think about all the burger joints that have taken off across the county. You really latched onto something.”
“Apparently.” He tilted his head slightly. “Well, the accidental bright idea certainly has bought me some breathing room now.”
“Speaking of, what kind of RV did you get? My sources aren’t really into details like that. I’d imagine Lady has her own bed.”
“She does.” He beamed. “It’s an Entegra.”
“Those are really nice.”
“You know your coaches?” The server took our plates away.
“I’ve always thought it would be fun to travel the country.”
“You really don’t like to stay in one place very long, do you?” He studied me, and I felt warmth move up my neck to my cheeks again.
“Not really,” I agreed.
“And why do you think that is?” He folded his hands and leaned into the table a little more.
“It’s easier.”
“In what sense?”
“I don’t have to worry about making the wrong choice.”
“Like which city to live in?” he prompted.
“Which city, what house, what circle to socialize in…” I stopped short of bringing up anything to do with guys.
“What men to date?”
I laughed. “Got me there.”
“So a life on the road would be perfect for you.”
“Pretty much have it now and I love it.” I circled the tiny salt shaker. “Although, I don’t know how I’m going to leave Lucky. There’s something special about that pooch.”
“He is unique. I’ll give him that.”
“Would you now?”
“Oh, yeah. That dog certainly has a personality.”
“Yes, he does. Is Lady your only travel companion for the trip?” I asked.
“As far as I know.”
My heart puttered a little faster as I thought back to the lady in red. She kind of contradicted everything he told me here tonight.
“Interesting,” he said, unlocking his fingers.
“What?”
“You’ve been pretty direct with me from the moment I met you, not really one to hold back.” He paused for a second. “Yet, you haven’t asked me about the woman who kissed me the other night.”
“Did you kiss her back?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“No. I couldn’t get you out of my head.” He pressed his full lips into a thin line. “And once I got her to step back, I couldn’t find you.”
I wanted to believe him, and I also wanted to know who she was.
But the truth of the matter was that he’d be leaving the island soon and there really wasn’t going to be anything more than tonight so it didn’t matter.
“Well?” he asked.
“Well what?”
“Don’t you want to know who she is?”
I shook my head. “Not really. It’s not my business.”
“We’re here tonight. Doesn’t that kind of make it your business?”
I thought about his statement and wondered if that had been the source of my dating problems. I never made things my business. If my boyfriend stayed out late with his friends, I didn’t press. If he didn’t invite me along with him somewhere, I didn’t beg. If he never came home, I didn’t wonder.
But why?
“I’ve never really thought about things like that before.”
“If I saw some guy kissing you, I’d want to know all the details. Who? Why? When? And where can I clock him?”
I laughed and shook my head. “I guess I figured it didn’t matter since this might be our only date.”
“Oh, this isn’t it, Tiffany.” He shook his head as his eyes locked on mine. “This is only the beginning.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I just am.”
I was engrossed by the sensual look in his gaze. The heat had turned to something more. All I could think about was kissing him, and I knew that for the first time in my life, I might have found someone who actually made me care enough to find out more.