Page 67 of Never Let Go

Whistling under my breath, I only stopped when I reached the door and saw a server waiting with a white rose in his hand. That was for me.

Amanda would get one too, which would allow us to identify each other and avoid the embarrassment of mistaking someone else for our dates. Back in the early days of Sight Unseen, that kind of thing had happened a time or two too many.

Eventually, Milena had decided on white roses. Red was too common for people meeting each other for dinner. Too many people had a bouquet of red roses, waiting for their own dates, and too many restaurants had them on the tables.

She’d tried that exactly once before she’d realized it wouldn’t work well enough to eliminate the possibility of confusion. So white it was.

I strode right up to the server, holding out my hand for the rose. “That’s mine tonight, Adam. Thanks. She here yet?”

He blinked at me, obviously surprised. “It’s yours? I didn’t know you were in the program. And no, she’s not here yet. Good luck, Foster. See ya.”

“See you.” I took the rose and showed myself to the table I knew we were going to be seated at.

It had a good view of the door, which meant I saw Adam produce another white rose from behind the hostess stand and I watched closely as more people approached the door. First came a couple, striding in hand and in hand.

Not her.

Next was another guy. Also not her.

But then a shapely leg came into view from around the bend in the garden and my heart leaped into my throat. That’s probably her.

At the end of the leg was a dainty, dark purple heel and the calf was shaven smooth, her skin creamy and pale. My palms got sweaty and I moved them to my thighs, wiping them. I inched forward on my chair, chest thudding, and dragged my gaze up from her legs.

I moved it deliberately slowly, cataloguing every moment of this first time I was seeing her—hoping it was her and that I wasn’t checking out the girlfriend of the other guy who had just arrived. This girl wore a dress that matched the heels, the deep color making that pale skin seem like porcelain.

The hem of the dress hit just below her knees, but a slit up the side gave me mouthwatering glimpses of the rest of her leg as she moved. Further up, my gaze snagged on her wide hips that curved into a narrower waist and then cleavage I wanted to bury my face in.

My dick reacted to the thought, but I flexed my thighs and fought it off, knowing that the last thing I needed when I stood up to greet her was a tent in my pants. Abruptly yanking my gaze away from that rack, I finally found myself looking at her face and an audible breath rushed out of me.

Shelby? What the fuck?

My heart stuttered, confusion sinking in as I watched her walking up to Adam. She looked stunning, and since I knew she was seeing someone, I assumed she was here for that other guy. Well, if this isn’t the mother of all coincidences—

My thought was cut off when I saw Adam hand over the other white rose he’d been holding. For a moment, I didn’t know what to think. Then it dawned on me.

I’d told Hope about Shelby, and just after that, she’d set me up with Amanda. So this is what she’s been up to.

She hadn’t been projecting after all. She’d been trying to warn me that I was about to get the breath knocked out of me much the same way as she had, but unlike her, I wasn’t pissed about it. In fact, this felt right.

It was serendipity, and I was one hundred percent okay with that.

32

SHELBY

I couldn’t wait to meet Tyler. I was so excited as I walked down the path to the café that my hands were shaking and my heart was racing. In just a couple more minutes, I’d be seeing the face that belonged to the man of my dreams.

While some of the nervousness lingered, I was mostly just eager to get it over with now. This date, tonight, was what it’d all been leading to, and I was ready to move on to the next chapter with him.

Hopefully.

I caught my lower lip between my teeth and dragged in a deep breath, pausing just before I rounded the last corner that would put me in full view of the café. I didn’t know if he was here yet or if he’d be watching the path, but I needed to compose myself before I went any further.

I shook my hands out in front of me, my fingers spread. I dipped my head back, closed my eyes, and kept my palms facing my chest as I tried to work out the last of the nervousness. My lungs weren’t working properly, but I filled them with as much air as I could and then I blew it out slowly before I lowered my chin again.

You’re ready, Shel. Go get him.

Forcing my feet to move, I strode around the corner with my head held high and my shoulders square. Almost as soon as I stepped around the bend, the hairs on the back of my neck told me that there were eyes on me.