"I hide my tendencies very well," he said. "Sadly, you've figured it out. I'm on permanent punishment for my sunny disposition." It was difficult to say all of that with a completely straight face. While he might give himself "amiable" on a good day, "sunny" was taking it way too far.

"You probably shouldn't have said that. That's as bad as, 'What a quiet day it has been,' or, 'What's the worst that could happen?'" He did his best to will away the heat in his cheeks, believing if he just kept talking, eventually the moment would pass.

He remained seated. It was better if only one of them was up at a time, bending and twisting around to get dressed. He couldn't figure out a way to watch her that didn't seem like outright rude staring, settling for glancing over at her now and then. "You should take it as a compliment. I'm not an easily distracted man."