Ben grabbed a French roll from the breadbasket and buttered it. “So, you work at a detective agency. Have you done the gumshoe routine for long?”
“I don’t like the way he’s belittling what you do,” Darrak said.
She ignored the hypersensitive demon. Ben wasn’t belittling her. “I recently inherited half the agency from my mother. It’s the reason I moved to the city.”
That and wanting to get away from her old small-town life, which included her ex-fiancé. Then again, her fresh new start hadn’t exactly worked out the way she’d hoped it would so far.
“Inherited?” he repeated.
“My mother died last month.”
Ben stopped buttering and his expression turned concerned. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She got a strange twisting feeling in her stomach thinking about it. They’d never been close, but the thought that she was gone forever, with no chance for a reconciliation, was hard to swallow.
“It’s rough to lose a parent. Is your dad still around?”
She shook her head. “Never knew him.”
“Oh.” He looked distraught again. “Sorry.”
His reaction made her smile. “Don’t be. And don’t worry about me. I’m not going to have a breakdown here. I’m used to being on my own. In fact, I prefer it that way.”
All on her own. No unwanted roommates. No one lurking at the corners of her mind primed to judge her dates. Those were the good old days.
“Is golden boy for real?” Darrak asked. “I thought you were the awkward one. I stand mildly corrected. This guy might look GQ on the outside, but he’s a total dork on the inside, isn’t he?”
Actually, she found it oddly endearing to find a tiny bit of rust on that shiny suit of armor. The fact that Ben wasn’t as perfect as she’d thought made him infinitely more likeable to her.
Ben’s handsome face was now flushed. “I’m a bit out of practice at this.”
“At what?” she asked.
“Dating. Conversation. At least, outside of work. But that’s probably evident by now, isn’t it?”
This surprised her. “Really? I would have thought you’d have women lined up.”
“Oh, you thought that, did you?”
“I mean, not that I’ve thought about it that much, but…” She cleared her throat. “Well, I did hear some women talking when I was at the precinct a couple weeks ago.”
That got his attention. “And what were they saying?” “That you weren’t dating anyone at the moment.”
He shook his head and poured more wine for the both of them. “Well, yeah. I’ve been sort of out of the social scene for a little while.”
“How long’s a little while?”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “About five years. Give or take.”
“Five years?” Handsome Ben Hanson had been out of the dating game for five years? That was very hard to believe.
He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just…” He blew out a shaky breath and took a sip of his wine.
“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
Ben looked at her, his face tense. “No, it’s okay. It’s not a secret, anyhow. I was engaged for a while to… to someone. She… was murdered.”
She swallowed hard. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. It’s one of the reasons I’m so dedicated to my job. Sometimes too dedicated. I get in trouble for doing things my way instead of following the rules to the letter. But socially… I just haven’t really gotten back on the horse, you know? I’ve been focusing completely on work and the time has just slipped through my fingers.”
“I totally understand.”
“I’m sure you’re sorry you agreed to come out with me tonight, aren’t you?”
She covered his hand with hers. “If you think that, then you really don’t know me very well.”
Ben smiled at her. “I’m glad you feel that way. But so much for light dinner conversation, huh?”
“Small talk’s for wimps.”
“Eden,” Darrak said. “This guy is damaged goods. I wasn’t sure what was off about him but now I know. He’s not right for you. Too much baggage. You don’t want that. Let’s get out of here.”
Not a chance.
“Hello? Are you listening to me?” Darrak asked after a moment.
“More wine?” Ben asked.
“Please.” She held out her glass. “And let’s toast to new beginnings.”
He nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
The waiter, now limping a little from his near fall, delivered the food soon after. Eden found that she was able to hold up her end of the conversation even without help from her inner demon.
Ben had been through a lot. It made her feel really lucky that she was the girl he wanted to go out with after all this time.
Damaged goods. Darrak was so unbelievably insensitive.
Considering the price of the food, the no-substitutions-allowed pasta was bland. So was the fish. Instead of complaining, she salted and peppered the food liberally.
“You probably shouldn’t do that,” Darrak said. “Too much sodium is unhealthy.”
She added extra salt just to be contrary.
“Fine, ignore me. But just know that salt and demons don’t go together so well. It’s actually a well-known fact. You might feel strange if you try to eat that.”