She stares at me, red in her cheeks.
"Just curious," I add. My heart quickens the way it does after a cardio workout. The small voice telling I'm not a whole man anymore, and not good enough for someone like Claudia, is warning me I never should've asked. I imagine crushing it once more. Claudia is too compelling for me to let the voice of insecurity win.
"Sundays."
Wow. She answered. "I thought it might be nice if I made you a cup of coffee for once," I say.
"Will it be hot?" she asks, a little uncertainly.
I chuckle. "Yeah. Unless you like cold coffee."
She ducks her head but not before I see the smile. "Okay, Petr. We can have coffee." As with the decision about Todd, I sense the energy she puts into the response and that she's at her limit.
"You can bring Todd, too. We'll do brunch at my place. Baba will be happy to see you, I'm sure, and there's more than enough to do at the house to keep Todd busy."
"He won't go anywhere without Maya," she warns me, enough recovered to look me in the eye again.
"Bring her, too."
"To your castle?" Her face scrunches at the words. "You really live in a castle?"
"Yeah. Don't hold it against me." I laugh, thoughts on Brianna.
"Why would I?"
"Just a … stupid joke. I dated a girl once who resented the fact I was wealthy."
"First you date women who can't accept your leg and now someone who doesn't like who you are," she says and then clears her throat. "You don't have very good sense in women, Petr."
She says it in the chiding tone I've heard her use with Todd. "Yeah, you're right." I smile.
"That includes me."
"Nothing you say will convince me of that."
The shadow is back in her gaze. Before she gets cold feet, I stand up to go.
"Let me know Sunday if you want any changes to the schedule." I motion to the paper in her hands. "I won't be in tomorrow. I have to go to Boston for the day."
"Thank you, Petr."
"See you at ten on Sunday."
I leave, my insides thrumming with warmth and excitement. I haven't been this excited about a date - even if it's with a bunch of other people present - since I was a teen.