Cormac shook his head, mirroring her. "Of course, of course," he said with a grin. "And even if you did and tell me, then you wouldn't be as mysterious as you are now. It wouldn't be as fun." He was sure that he'd like to know how to convince her that he could win on his own merits. Though he wasn't a good enough man to not use it against her later so it might be safer if she didn't. He shrugged. "Maybe it is? Would you be surprised if I said it was?"
"Oh, you're the exception to a lot of things that had nothing to do with using the cliche or not," he assured her with a smile. "You can use the cliche and still get the good feelings of being an exception."
Cormac decided to be bold. Standing up a little, he dragged his chair to the other side right next to hers. Sitting back down, he made himself comfortable beside her, closer to her than he'd been just they came in the restaurant. He reached up, not touching her but keeping his hand close to her hair as if just waiting for permission from her. "Can I..." he trailed off, not finishing his response as his gaze dropped from her eyes to her mouth before flashing back up to her eyes again.