“You’re not really feeling this, are you?” he asks.

“I’m sorry, George. You’re a nice guy, and you’re handsome, but I just don’t think there’s any chemistry here.”

“Whew,” he says and leans back in his chair. “I feel the same. I’m glad you said it first. But I do like you.”

“I like you too, but it’s more of a friends thing for me.”

“Sounds good,” he replies with a decisive nod. “Just friends.”

“And just to be clear, not the friends with benefits kind of friends,” I add firmly.

He sits back again and studies me for a moment, then shakes his head.

“I don’t usually have sex with my friends.”

I cock a brow, not a little surprised. George is simply a nice, normal guy who’s grown out of the fuck-buddy phase.

“What are you thinking?” he asks with a smile. “You have a funny look on your face.”

“You’re like the Easter Bunny.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re just a nice guy. No gimmicks. No strings. An adult man who doesn’t have to sleep with a woman to be friends with her.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve never seen one of you in the wild,” I explain and smile when he bursts out laughing again. He has a great sense of humor.

“Your brothers seem to be the same.”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t consider dating my brothers.”

“Good plan.”

George reaches for the check.

“I can pay for mine.”

“Even if we’re not going to date again, I’ll still pay for this one.” He winks and passes his card to the waitress. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Boudreaux.”

“Likewise.”

***

It’s late and I can’t sleep. Rather than going to the shop after my date with George, I came home to get caught up on housework and filing. I would rather be in the Quarter, with the noise and activity always happening there. It’s too quiet in my house.

But that’s not why I can’t sleep. I’m too busy thinking about a certain sexy British motivational speaker.

I miss him. It’s really that simple.

And I’m sure that if I sent an email to Violet through the website, I could ask for his number, or ask her to pass along a message.

But why would I do that? Nothing long term can work out for us. The distance would kill me, and we said goodbye in Montana. Besides, if he wanted something more with me, wouldn’t he have tried to contact me by now?

No, I won’t humiliate myself by trying to contact him. We didn’t exchange numbers, and stalking him is just… desperate. I need to concentrate on forgetting him altogether.

And I definitely need to stop comparing every man I know to him. That’s just not fair, to them or to me.

My phone rings, making me jump.

“What’s wrong?” I ask immediately. “Is it Kate?”

“No,” Eli replies. His voice sounds tired. “I’ve been waiting up to hear from you.”

“Why?”

“Because you said you’d call.”

I pull the phone away from my head and stare at it for a second. “I’m almost thirty, Eli.”

“I know, but I set you up with this guy, so I want to know.”

“First of all, I’d like to remind you that you set me up with a man named George.”

“Is there a list somewhere I don’t know about full of names that you don’t like?”

“And second, you set me up with someone who works for you.”

“So? Half of New Orleans works for me.”

“And third, what kind of update did you want? Did you want to hear about the earth-shattering, chandelier-breaking sex we had?”

“Now you’re just trying to piss me off. I told him not to touch you.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and pray for more patience than I was born with.

“You set me up on a date, but told the guy he wasn’t allowed to touch me?”

“Of course. I’m your brother. Ben might have threatened him too.”

“Great.” I sigh and sit up in my bed. “Well, you’ll be happy to hear that he was a gentleman. He’s a nice guy, but there was no chemistry.”

“I see.”

“And Eli? Don’t try to set me up anymore. It’s too weird. What if you set me up with someone I actually want to have sex with, but he’s terrified of getting beat up? That’s not sexy.”

“I didn’t try to set you up with someone sexy,” he replies.

“Exactly. But I love you for trying.”

“I just love you, Char,” he says and tears fill my eyes. Why am I so prone to crying these days? Damn feelings.

“I love you too.”

“I know you’re a little lonely, and I know that you work too much.”

“Takes one to know one,” I murmur.

“Exactly. And now that I have Kate, I just want you to be as happy as we are.”

“Someday,” I reply. “Daddy always told me that I’d know him when I saw him.”

“I don’t believe in that love at first sight bullshit.”

“Why not? It happened for Mom and Dad and they were together forever, and they were blissfully in love every day.”

“Blissfully?” Eli chuckles. “They loved each other, but I think there were days that Mom would have happily killed him.”

I frown and wonder if Eli remembers the same parents that I do. “You’re wrong.”