Why Do I Only Like The Bad Ones?

Had a second date with Southern Gentleman….I’m changing his name to Country Bumpkin….last night he seemed a lot more “country” than he did on our first date. Maybe it was the country music he played in the car (which he told me he’d have me liking by the end of the night), or the fact that he told me he had a really “country” middle name, Earl ! (which he made me guess) …I actually got it on the second guess, after Harlan. Maybe it was the fact the he looked so completely disheveled…his jeans and shirt were so wrinkled…he must have forgotten them in the dryer overnight, and decided to just put them on anyway….it was comical…but I didn’t take it in an “I don’t give a shit” way…clearly, it was not that, but rather in an “I really wanted to iron these clothes but when I turned the iron on it was broken and all my other clothes were dirty” kinda way. I don’t know what happened to his khakis and black shirt look from last time?!? Maybe it was his old Toyota Camry or his Timberland shoe booties…but the 10 years he spent in New York City seemed to have disappeared into thin air. This is a man who spackles and is sanding his own deck….not that there’s anything wrong with that.
We had good conversation at dinner (apparently I’m a pro at this)…although we acknowledged how we were again talking about his ex…breaking cardinal dating rule #1. He told me he took his profile down from Match (which I’d noticed)…b/c he was getting tired of all the crazy girls emailing him. Of course, I took that to mean he was so smitten with me he was looking for no other. He is very handsome…I just needed to strip him down and dress him back up…and infuse him with an obnoxious NY Jew attitude of complete self-absorbtion, arrogance, cockiness and undeserved bravado...then maybe I would have been more drawn to him. You can take the Stupid B---- out of Boca, but you can’t take the Boca out of the Stupid B----. But, instead of possessing those characteristics and qualities that unfailingly attract me, he remembered exactly how many homes I have left to sell in my community…which I’m sure I mentioned only once the last time we’d met, he recalled my only day off is Friday, he asked me my last name and when my birthday is, and told me he wants to know more about me, so why are we talking all about him? (Because I’m good at asking questions). The nerve of this guy!
We went to the movies and there was NO physical contact….he didn’t try to hold my hand or touch my leg, or do the reach around (which is impossible in those tall seats anyway)…however, when I asked him where he wanted to sit, as I was climbing up the theater stairs…he did say he wanted to sit in the back so we could make out (I guess this is a standard movie-going line these days?)…I laughed and kept walking up the stairs….I think he got nervous that I was going to take him up on that because he said he was just kidding…so I stopped climbing and picked a seat. I think he’s a little afraid of me.
The movie was action packed and I was totally into it- I felt his eyes on me and turned towards him…he was smiling/laughing and I asked him why he was laughing at me…he said he was “just looking”. Ah ha! I think Country Bumpkin is in love. When we exited the theater it was quite cold and my Bumpkin Gentleman offered me his coat….I told him I was okay, and with his sarcastic humor he said something about being glad he didn’t have to unzip it…. He opened my car door, and he made a point, as we walked from car to restaurant to car to movie theater, to always walk on the street side of me…to protect me from any potentially wayward cars hopping the curb and plowing me down. It was sweet.
On the way home, I thanked him for the dinner and movie date….he said, “Date? That’s a very formal word.” I re-phrased and said thanks for dinner and the movie. He said he’s never had anyone use the word “date” in the actual thank you on the date. I reminded him (as he’d pointed out to me on our first date) that I have my own unique style and way of saying things. As the country tunes played on the radio, I teased him… asking if he sits on his back porch with his dog drinking diet coke and crying about his broken down pick up truck and ex-girlfriends….he called me on rolling my eyes again and being “unique”…he seems to like "unique". We got to my place and he asked me to wait as he got out of the car to open my door for me. As soon as I stood up he asked me with great anticipation in his bright green eyes and hopeful smile, “Wanna go out again?”, with what struck me as the excitement and hopefulness of a little boy…..I told him, "Yes", and he bent down to hug me. As I put the key in my door and he was getting back into his car, he looked over at me and asked, “You’re not just saying that, are you?” I scrunched up my face and shook my head to convey, “No, of course not”….but I’m not really sure, myself. I mean, what would I do with a tall, handsome, sweet, educated, thoughtful, well-mannered guy who makes me want to say, “Hey, wanna come over and we can make pasta, watch a movie and hang out?” What good could ever come of that?