Page 4 of The Professor's Wife
He ordered a beer, and within moments, one slid across the bar toward him. He wrapped his hand around it, and I stared at that large hand once more, admiring how powerful it looked.
Then he turned back to me, his eyes alive.
“You don’t come here often.”
It was a statement, but I shook my head anyway. “No.”
“I figured.”
When he caught the slight arch of my brow, he gave me a warm, lopsided smile.
“You stand out,” he explained. “Most people here sort of blur together. You don’t.”
“Someone like me doesn’t?”
He grimaced. “Shit. That sounded wrong.”
My lips twitched. “Then what did you mean?”
“It’s just…” He gestured vaguely toward me. “You look…”
“What?”
“Nice dress. Heels. Hair…”
“Pampered?”
“No. No, I didn’t mean—” He stopped and rubbed a hand across his jaw, clearly regretting every word. “I’m making this worse.”
“What did you mean, then?”
His gaze settled on me. The awkwardness remained, but something more serious entered his expression.
“You’re beautiful,” he said. “That’s what I meant.”
Men had flirted with me before. I remembered once sitting beside a man on a bus for three hours, watching him stumble over his words as he tried to convince me of how desirable he was. Men often carried that sort of bravado, boasting about their careers, their wealth, the houses they owned, and the cars tucked away in their garages.
Rarely did any of them simply say, You’re beautiful.
I wondered how different things might have been if they had.
Because when this man said it—just that, nothing more—it made me feel lightheaded and wanted. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so much older than him after all.
Whoever he was, he wasn’t trying to impress me with a list of achievements. He had said it as if it were the only honest thing he knew how to offer.
My smile broadened. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He continued watching me as I looked down at my water. Feeling a little more courageous, I said, “I listened to you sing.”
“I know.”
My eyes darted back to his.
This time, his smile was barely there. His blue eyes searched mine.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but there had been so many people around him that I had almost convinced myself he hadn’t truly been looking at me.
