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silence heavy, uncomfortable.
    Ava didn’t look up, but instead answered his question with one of her own. “Is your family still in Ohio?”
    She was good at that, he realized. Answering his questions with an unrelated question of her own.
    “Yes.”
    “Do you have siblings?”
    “Yes, two older sisters.”
    She smiled then, a wistful little curl of her full lips. “The baby and only boy? I bet you got bossed around.”
    He grinned back, liking that smile. “Just a little.”
    Her smile deepened as she looked back at her menu. “I think I will get the meat loaf. Have you had it? Is it any good?”
    Charlie had eaten here more times than he was willing to admit. But the prices were decent and he didn’t have to eat alone—well, not exactly alone.
    “Nice choice. It’s pretty good. Homemade.”
    She glanced up at him, her smile stunning. A strange skittering sensation danced through his chest.
    He looked back to his menu, surprised by the odd feeling.
    “Is your family still in Kansas?” he asked.
    He glanced up when after a moment, she hadn’t answered.
    She continued to look down at her own menu. Charlie couldn’t see her eyes, but her lovely smile was gone.
    Finally she nodded, just a tiny bob of her head. “My mother is there—she’s the only family I have.”
    Charlie wanted to ask more, but he could tell by her closed expression she didn’t want to expound on the topic. Like she didn’t want to talk about Finola White. Tonight, she wanted to forget for a while. He could try to help her with that.
    “My middle sister used to make me dress up as a girl,” he said suddenly, not even aware he was going to share that embarrassing little tidbit until it was already out of his mouth.
    Ava’s brows drew together, then to his pleasure, she laughed.
    “A girl? But she already had an older sister.”
    “Well, she wanted all sisters. So I attended many a tea party in her old dresses.”
    A sweet, infectious giggle escaped Ava’s full, ruby lips. “Do you still don a dress now and then?”
    Charlie widened his eyes, feigning a look of offense. Then he managed an equally believable sheepish smile. “Okay, only when I’m going to a very special tea party.”
    Ava laughed again. The sound thrilled him as much as if he’d made the winning catch at a big game. Or flown to the moon. Or made a sad supermodel forget her problems just for few moments.
    Joey returned to take their orders. Charlie ordered the same meal as Ava, and Charlie was glad to see that she asked for a soft drink rather than another stiff one. Maybe she didn’t feel quite so much like she needed to drown her sorrows now.
     
    Ava took the last bite of her meat loaf, allowing herself to enjoy the home-cooked meal, even though it definitely wasn’t on her model’s diet.
    She also watched the man across from her, just letting herself enjoy him too. He was funny and sweet and handsome, but not in the fake, perfected way of most of the men who filled her world. Men with features and physiques she’d found so attractive when she’d been a young girl flipping through fashion magazines and celebrity rags in her tiny bedroom in Kansas. Oh, how she’d coveted that world, those perfect people. What a silly, stupid girl she’d been.
    Because right now, she couldn’t imagine finding anything more appealing than slightly shaggy auburn hair, a lean build and a goofy—and wonderfully adorable—grin.
    He reached for his beer, and Ava noticed how long and strong his fingers looked against the glass. How nicely muscled his forearms were with his plain white shirt sleeves rolled back. How perfectly shaped his lips were, not too full, not too thin. Kissable lips.
    She blinked at that thought, then decided that she could hardly be shocked her thoughts had gone in that direction. She’d been aware of him all night. Aroused by him, if she was being honest.
    He was really quite gorgeous in a way she wished she’d appreciated before she found herself in