Yours Seductively

Chapter 5.3

   Tyler didn't have to worry about making conversation during the hour-long drive to the restaurant he'd selected in Atlanta. Jane talked the entire way, telling him about the acting roles she'd had in New York, and sharing stories about some of the celebrities she'd met. It was almost as if she was trying to fill the awkward silences between them.

   He didn't mind her chattering. Trying to keep up with her conversational gymnastics kept him from dwelling on the way her skirt had ridden up on her thighs. The way her seat belt pulled the top of her dress so tightly against her breasts.  Her faint, intriguing citrus scent.

   He shifted in his seat, annoyed with himself for letting hormones run away with him. Just because he hasn't been to bed with a woman during the past year didn't mean he couldn't control himself for an evening.

   The rather one-side conversation continued during the excellent dinner they were served at a cozily secluded table in a quiet corner of the elegant restaurant. Jane seemed as comfortable in their posh surroundings as she did curled in the sofa at her house, making him wonder if she ever felt awkward. If she did, he certainly couldn't tell.

   "I've done enough gabbing," she said when they had almost finished their meal. "Why don't you tell me about your adventures in Washington? I bet you've met some very interesting people."

   "A few."

   "Tell me about some of the things you've seen," she said, studying him across the tiny table. "Entertain me while I savor my dessert."

   Though he wasn't sure exactly what it would take to entertain her, he managed to come up with a few anecdotes. Jane seemed to find them amusing, thought he was aware he could not quite match her flair for storytelling.

   "Now tell me the latest cute things your kids have done," she demanded when he'd run out of innocuous Washington stories. "You've hardly mentioned then this evening."

   He smiled wryly. "I didn't think talking about one's kids was proper date etiquette. I could be wrong. Last time I was out on adage, I didn't even have kids."

   "Didn't you and you wife go out on date?"

   He felt a muscle tense in the back of his neck. "Yes, of course we went out. I was referring to dates in traditional sense."

   Her eyes searched his face, making him wonder what she saw there. "Did your wife like the D.C. social scene?"

   More that he had ever realized, Tyler could have answered. As afar as he had known, she'd been content to stay at home in the evenings with him and the children, which was what he had generally preferred when they had no pressing engagements. He hadn't known, of course, that she'd found her own entertainment during the hours he had spent at the office. He merely nodded in response to Jane's question.

   "And did you?" she asked.

   "It got old fast." Though his appetite was gone, he took another bite of his cheesecake, just to give him something to do for a moment.