I’d always gotten along with.
“Hey, Dani, wait a second.”
I couldn’t have walked another step if I tried. My legs went weak at the curiosity and the slight trace of urgency in his voice as he Dukes of Hazard slid over the hood of his car toward me.
“Wanna get together? Have some lunch? Maybe catch up?”
“Don’t you have a girlfriend?” My heart pounded at the idea of catching up with Simon, but I’d turned over a new leaf, and boyfriend stealing had a big red line through the list of acceptable behaviors I kept on the keep-Kieran-proud Post-it in my mind.
“I asked if you wanted to catch up.” A smile tipped the corner of his lips heavenward. “Not have an orgy.”
Orgy? Hardly. If I ever got my hands on him again…one on one…for hours. Instead of voicing my thoughts, I cleared my throat and shrugged at him. “Well, you gotta clarify. Catching up with you could mean a lot of things, and it puts pictures in a girl’s mind.”
He chuckled as I tapped my forehead with my finger.
“Pretty pictures.” I over-exaggerated my sigh. Okay. So, my reformation had a ways to go.
He ducked his head and color brightened his cheeks while I chewed my lip for a split second.
“Catching up sounds good.”
With the gentle pressure of his hand at the middle of my lower back, he guided me to the passenger side of his SUV. After his chauffeur’s flourish and bow, I climbed in and breathed deep. The car smelled like him, had little touches of Simon all over it--including a picture of Jocelyn with Keaton attached to his dashboard.
Almost before I knew it, we arrived at Hood’s Hideaway, a new restaurant on the outskirts of Storybook that my mother raved about for an hour the previous evening. The glorified tree house bordered on the resort property where Keaton worked. It had a thatched roof over top of steel beams. Fake vines and plants “grew” inside. A trunk reached up through the middle of the floor, dividing the room into fours.
After our waitress served frothy coffee concoctions with whipped cream and sprinkles in primitive designed grog cups, she strolled away, leaving us alone, shielded by artfully placed foliage. I took a sip of the hot brew and swallowed quickly. My chest burned as the scalding liquid made its way down to my stomach. I sucked in a breath and blew it out. “Wooh. Wow.” I cleared my blistered throat. “So, what happened with you and Hollywood?” I wasn’t after the down and dirty details, but a bit of clarification would lighten the weight on my chest when I thought of them.
He smiled a little, and an old familiar longing bounced around in my chest. “She decided to stay in California and I decided to stay here.”
What kind of girl chose a crappy magazine job over Simon? The fool . Blind fool. While Keaton might have been beautiful, Simon was more. More handsome, more sociable, more affectionate, more…everything I wanted in one finely muscled package.
He took a big drink of coffee, pulled his lower lip between his teeth, and smiled. “That’s hot.”
I nodded. “I could have told you to drink slow.” I dialed the conversation back to his relationship status--the only information I cared about, anyway. “And now you’re consoling yourself with a sweet from the bakery?” I gave myself a mental thumbs-up for the confidence with which I’d said it, for the wit, without a single hint of jealousy or malice for the friend of Jocelyn’s he’d started dating.
“Such a way with words.” He grinned. “And I’m not consoling myself with Lizette. I really like her.” He narrowed his eyes and glared at me for a moment before his face relaxed.
I held up my hands in surrender. “Okay. You made a love connection. I’m happy for you.” But my stomach turned at the thought of Simon-- my Simon--with any other woman.
“And what about you? Anybody lighting your fire these days?”
I shook my head and ran my thumb around the rim of my cup. Keaton and I never discussed
“Hey, Dani, wait a second.”
I couldn’t have walked another step if I tried. My legs went weak at the curiosity and the slight trace of urgency in his voice as he Dukes of Hazard slid over the hood of his car toward me.
“Wanna get together? Have some lunch? Maybe catch up?”
“Don’t you have a girlfriend?” My heart pounded at the idea of catching up with Simon, but I’d turned over a new leaf, and boyfriend stealing had a big red line through the list of acceptable behaviors I kept on the keep-Kieran-proud Post-it in my mind.
“I asked if you wanted to catch up.” A smile tipped the corner of his lips heavenward. “Not have an orgy.”
Orgy? Hardly. If I ever got my hands on him again…one on one…for hours. Instead of voicing my thoughts, I cleared my throat and shrugged at him. “Well, you gotta clarify. Catching up with you could mean a lot of things, and it puts pictures in a girl’s mind.”
He chuckled as I tapped my forehead with my finger.
“Pretty pictures.” I over-exaggerated my sigh. Okay. So, my reformation had a ways to go.
He ducked his head and color brightened his cheeks while I chewed my lip for a split second.
“Catching up sounds good.”
With the gentle pressure of his hand at the middle of my lower back, he guided me to the passenger side of his SUV. After his chauffeur’s flourish and bow, I climbed in and breathed deep. The car smelled like him, had little touches of Simon all over it--including a picture of Jocelyn with Keaton attached to his dashboard.
Almost before I knew it, we arrived at Hood’s Hideaway, a new restaurant on the outskirts of Storybook that my mother raved about for an hour the previous evening. The glorified tree house bordered on the resort property where Keaton worked. It had a thatched roof over top of steel beams. Fake vines and plants “grew” inside. A trunk reached up through the middle of the floor, dividing the room into fours.
After our waitress served frothy coffee concoctions with whipped cream and sprinkles in primitive designed grog cups, she strolled away, leaving us alone, shielded by artfully placed foliage. I took a sip of the hot brew and swallowed quickly. My chest burned as the scalding liquid made its way down to my stomach. I sucked in a breath and blew it out. “Wooh. Wow.” I cleared my blistered throat. “So, what happened with you and Hollywood?” I wasn’t after the down and dirty details, but a bit of clarification would lighten the weight on my chest when I thought of them.
He smiled a little, and an old familiar longing bounced around in my chest. “She decided to stay in California and I decided to stay here.”
What kind of girl chose a crappy magazine job over Simon? The fool . Blind fool. While Keaton might have been beautiful, Simon was more. More handsome, more sociable, more affectionate, more…everything I wanted in one finely muscled package.
He took a big drink of coffee, pulled his lower lip between his teeth, and smiled. “That’s hot.”
I nodded. “I could have told you to drink slow.” I dialed the conversation back to his relationship status--the only information I cared about, anyway. “And now you’re consoling yourself with a sweet from the bakery?” I gave myself a mental thumbs-up for the confidence with which I’d said it, for the wit, without a single hint of jealousy or malice for the friend of Jocelyn’s he’d started dating.
“Such a way with words.” He grinned. “And I’m not consoling myself with Lizette. I really like her.” He narrowed his eyes and glared at me for a moment before his face relaxed.
I held up my hands in surrender. “Okay. You made a love connection. I’m happy for you.” But my stomach turned at the thought of Simon-- my Simon--with any other woman.
“And what about you? Anybody lighting your fire these days?”
I shook my head and ran my thumb around the rim of my cup. Keaton and I never discussed
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