All I Want by Natalie Ann Page A

then. Surprisingly she found it more arousing than fearful.
    Yesterday morning he’d sent her a text after his mother called him regarding her care package. She’d been teaching when the text came in, so she didn’t see it until her lunch break, but she didn’t hesitate to accept.
    So here she sat, eating delicious home-baked bread with a nice salad. Not just some lettuce thrown in a bowl with tomatoes and cucumbers, but tons of vegetables mixed in.
    Reaching for the salad dressing, she asked, “Do you really like a salad this much? Or was this to impress me?”
    He laughed. Such a soft little chuckle. She was learning it was his way of saying “caught.” “I’m not sure I would say I like salad a lot, but I eat it. Remember, working in a pub I’ve seen my fair share of dishes. Women like salads loaded with stuff. At least that is what I learned, or my sisters have said enough times.”
    This time she laughed. He was a good sport about it all with his sisters. As much as he joked about them calling and bugging him, it was always said with love. She could see that. “Well, I appreciate it. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but I guess the same could be said for a woman.”
    He looked startled for a moment, and suddenly she realized what she said and quickly amended, “That came out wrong. I’m not saying you’re trying to get to my heart. I mean, no, I’m not saying you are trying to woo me.” She covered her face with her hands. “Forget it. It always comes out of my mouth differently than what’s in my head.”
    “Don’t worry. I knew what you meant. Why do you always get so paranoid when you think you say something I might not like?”
    Getting worse and worse. Now she really needed to change the subject, and fast. Shrugging as nonchalantly as she could, she said, “Sorry. I just stumble around adults, I think. Comes from spending too much time around kids. That’s what Brynn always picks on me about.”
    His smile led her to believe he was buying what she was saying, which was good.
    Halfway through their soup, which she had to admit was the best potato and ham soup she’d ever had too, Sean’s phone rang. He looked at the caller and winced, then pressed the silence button. “Everything okay?”
    “Sure. It would be rude to answer the phone on a date. Don’t you know that?” he asked, joking with her.
    “Not if it’s important.”
    “It’s not, trust me. It’s my mother.”
    “Oh. Maybe you should get it.”
    “Nope. I’ll call her later. Besides, watching me talk to my mother is a surefire way to diminish my manhood in your eyes.”
    There was no way he could do that, not to her, but she wanted to know. “Why’s that?”
    “Trust me. My mother will find a way to get me to say something foolish or ‘sensitive.’ Again, being around women for so long.”
    “There’s nothing wrong with a sensitive man.”
    “Really? Do you like that quality?”
    She’d never really seen that quality in the men she dated, but she’d always thought she’d like it. Part of the reason she dated men more her size was she hoped they might be a bit more sensitive and less manly. But all she learned was that they often felt the need to make up for their size by being more controlling. “I might like it.”
    “You don’t know?”
    “I’m waiting to see it. Why don’t you try it out on me and let me decide?” She had no idea where that statement came from, but the way he threw his head back and laughed had her cringing. Again, she put her foot in her mouth.
    “No, don’t start to apologize for saying that. I can see the look on your face. I laughed because it was cute. And you know what—maybe next time I’ll show you how sensitive I can be. I can do that without you having to witness me on the phone with my mother.”
    That he knew she was going to apologize was a little unsettling. He’d obviously figured her out pretty fast and she wasn’t sure how she felt about