Hart cursed as someone began knocking on her door,"Just my luck that he'd have to be early," she muttered under her breath, smearing make-up on her face. It, well, sorta looked like how Vic had done it, if you used a little imagination. "Just screw it," she grumbled wiping it all off on a towel now smeared with foundation and eye shadow from previous attempts. "I'll just go au natural," she decided, completely butchering the French phrase in her attempt to speak it with an accent. Snagging her purse off the counter she hurried to the door, stopping to push back her hair before she opened it. Matthews stood outside her apartment, flowers in hand, looking confident to the point of cockiness as usual. For a moment she glared enviously at his well-maintained locks, before greeting him with smile.
"What no sash?" he asked in an attempt to sound disappointed as he looked her from head to toe.
"You're early for this 'casual dinner' of ours," she pointed out, taking the flowers from him,"You're lucky I'm just always this pretty or I'd never of been ready for you." He raised an eyebrow at her as she retreated into her apartment to get a vase. Though, from her lack of flowers over the years, the best vase she could find was an old, empty Marshmallow Crème Jar – it would work. "So where are we going tonight?" she asked as she shut the door behind them and they started down the hall.
"I thought we'd head for a Steak House, you like steak dontcha Hart? Big chunk of red meat – right up your alley." Hart cringed at the memory of Vic and the table manners incident at the restaurant. Well, thing were different now. She'd finally figured out where the napkin was supposed to go and she closed her mouth when chewing. Closing your mouth when chewing had proved to be an important tactic, preventing Vic and Eric from seeing exactly what it was she was eating – with her mouth closed they couldn't tell donut from carrot.
At the steak house, they were seated near the back and Matthews pulled out the chair for her. "Matthews? A gentleman?" Hart laughed,"This is a side I've never seen of you."
"Oh come on – I'm a gentleman, you know it, what about that night at the pool? I was completely gentlemanly."
"Up until the point you pulled me into the pool, or have you forgotten that?"
"You totally fell." Hart was about to retort before the waiter set down their meals.
"Hey – your steak looks bigger than mine," Gracie commented.
"Only 'cause you just gnawed off a huge chunk already," Matthews laughed.
"I did not 'gnaw' anything – I have table manners, thank you very much!" She motioned to the napkin in her lap instead of tucked in her shirt bib-style. "See?"
"So now instead of wolfing down your Ben & Jerry's, you daintily devour it, right?"
"Damn right."
After dinner, they returned to Matthews' car – a sleek, high performance sports car. It's fitting, Hart thought, that the car should match his ego so perfectly.
"So where we going now Matthews?"
"My place."
"Oh, that was subtle."
"To watch a movie Hart! Honestly, what do you think of me?"
"Well, I believe your words were "If we happen to have sex afterwards – so be it." What kind of conclusion is a girl supposed to draw from that?"
"A girl? I wouldn't say that to a girl, but you Hart, you're different."
She laid her hand down hard on his leg,"And that would be mean exactly what?" He glanced nervously at her grip on his leg.
"It would mean exactly that you would be considered, more of a lady."
"That's better," she said satisfied, settling back into her seat. As they drove, Matthews slipped one hand from the steering wheel and rested it on her leg. She looked from his hand to him.
"Don't tell me you haven't heard things about the kind of guys that drive these cars."
"You mean that they're always putting the moves on young girls? Vic would be simply crushed if he heard that."
"C'mon Hart, don't bring that up – it just ruins the moment debating another man's attraction for me, besides, you're just jealous."
"Well don't go and say things like that on our date! It makes me start to wonder exactly where your hand is been, and after that comment, I'd like you to remove it."
"You know I'm just kidding Hart."
"With the amount of time you spend with your hair, and your impeccable taste in clothes – a couple of guys at the precinct are starting to wonder. But I knew you were kidding, so you can put your hand back, go on, I wasn't complaining." Matthews returned his hand, and Hart sat back, content, and silence ensued. A moment later, Eric suddenly asked.
"Wait Hart, you were kidding too, right? About the guys? The guys at the precinct really aren't starting to wonder, right? Hart, they really aren't, right? Hey Hart, say something…"
She simply turned her head, and smiled.