Page 64 of Finding My Charming

An embarrassingly loud snort escaped, and I quickly covered my mouth with one hand and shoved her with my other. “That’s reassuring. Thanks, Ari.”

She nudged her shoulder against mine and smiled at me. “Are you doing better now?”

“Sure.”

“I know this is all crazy and overwhelming, but we’re going to figure it out. Just think, in a matter of a few weeks, this will all be over, and you’ll know who your true love is. Before you realize it, you’ll be headed off to your dream school with Prince Charming on your arm.”

“That’s an oversimplified version, but I’ll take it.” I picked up her hand and squeezed. “What am I going to do without you?”

“Live a very sad, lonely life.” She winked and tugged me up with her as she stood.

I rolled my eyes behind her back and followed her back to her car. She made everything sound so easy.

Chapter 21

i knew i had to act fast, so I was listening to Ari’s advice and waiting for my chance to run into Dallin. When I came back from lunch, I chatted with Sherrie about everything that was going on, and of course, she agreed with Ari. Those two had an awful habit of ganging up on me. She said she’d noticed how he had looked at me the very first time he’d come in and said his teasing was his way of flirting, not being a jerk.

A part of me knew I was being unfair in judging him from our first real encounter; after all, I was jealous of him and his relationship with everyone at the office. I’d wrongly interpreted his jokes and jabs as rude rather than funny.

It made me rethink almost every encounter with him. Maybe my jealousy made me see everything incorrectly. I was seeing each action as an attack against me. This whole time I’d been wrong.

Crap. We could have been together a long time ago if I hadn’t been so stubborn.

All right, some of the blame is on me.

Fine. Most of the blame is on me.

I’d never really given him a chance, and he had been there at the party. That fact alone meant I couldn’t count him out.

So, here I was, staring across the street, waiting for him to walk out so I could casually run into him. He was working earlier, so his shift should be ending soon. At least that was the pattern that I had figured out. Sherrie warned me that he sometimes worked all night through the dinner shift if they were shorthanded. If that was the case, I was going to have a really hard time explaining what I was doing at the office after nine at night.

I checked my phone for the umpteenth time then looked out the window and back to my phone. Any minute now, I just knew it.

The door to the restaurant opened just as I was writing out an SOS-text to Ari. I threw my phone back into my purse and held my breath, waiting for someone to exit. The door paused, half-open for a few moments, before swinging wide as Dallin walked out.

Showtime! Sherrie had coached me through the plan and told me to count to three before leaving, so it wouldn’t seem like I’d been waiting for him. Clever woman. On three, I pushed against the door and slowly walked down the sidewalk to where my car was parked. My attention was on my keys, memorizing every minute detail as if I would be tested on it later.

If this was my attempt at acting normal and oblivious, I would never make it in Hollywood.

When I was a short distance from my car, I slowly looked up and tried to discreetly scan the area. My heart dropped when I realized I was alone. He’d disappeared!

I turned in a circle, trying to see where he’d gone, when suddenly someone grabbed my shoulders and leaned into me.

“Looking for someone?” A masculine voice whispered over my shoulder, but before I could even start to panic, I was spun around. There were the piercing blue eyes that had consumed my thoughts all afternoon.

“No. I was… I couldn’t remember if I needed to lock the doors, so I was checking if I could see anyone else’s car parked out here.” The lie tumbled out of my mouth, but it sounded pretty good to me.

“So? Do you need to go back?”

Crystal blue waters. Maybe the Caribbean? I watched those amazing eyes change from curious to amused and realized that I hadn’t answered him. “Oh no. My dad’s still here.”

A smirk at the corners of his lips. “You’re working pretty late.”

“Long lunch.” I pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I was getting better at this lying thing. As long as he didn’t see me blushing, I could probably get away with it.

“Where did you go?” He was leaning against my car now as if he had no place in the world he had to be other than right there with me.

“The park by the library. Ari, my friend who came to lunch with me the other day…”