Page 17

“Sure,” he said.

He’d laid eyes on Maggie for the first time just a few minutes ago, but if Ana said she was a good person, she probably was.

But that wasn’t what he was worried about right now. He was still thinking about that expression on Ana’s face a few minutes before, when he’d hinted that he liked her and she looked so sad about it.

“Listen,” he said quietly, hoping to say his piece before her friend came back to talk about her dress. “I’m not trying to put the cart before the horse. I know I have a lot of work to do before I’m the kind of guy a woman would want to bring home to her mother. But one day, I’ll be ready to be good to a good woman, I promise you, Ana.”

Wait for me, he barely managed to stop himself from saying.

He set his jaw and braced himself for her to tell him that she only saw him as a friend. Or that his past was too much for her.

“I’ll set you up with Maggie,” she said firmly. “I don’t see any reason why she wouldn’t be happy to go out with you right now.”

“What?” he asked, as much to her as to himself.

But before he could follow up, Maggie was hurrying back to them, an ecstatic smile on her face.

“She says it looks just like she imagined it when she made it,” Maggie told Ana excitedly.

“Is this for an event at the school?” Ana asked her, then turned to Rory. “Maggie teaches second grade at the elementary school. Isn’t that great?”

“Sounds like a hard job,” Rory said.

“Oh, it’s the best job in the world,” Maggie told him. “And yes, Ana, it’s for the faculty Christmas party. What do you think?”

“If you love it, then it’s perfect,” Ana told her. “Do you need any shoes or accessories?”

“I’ve got plenty,” Maggie said. “I think I’ll take it.”

“Perfect,” Ana told her.

They watched after Maggie as she slipped back into the changing room.

“Should I get out of the way so you can talk to her?” Ana whispered to Rory. “Or do you want me to say something?”

“Look,” he said, wanting to put the brakes on whatever was going on right now. “Why don’t we talk about this when you’re not working.”

“Great idea,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “We can meet for coffee and make a plan.”

Ana looked so delighted at playing the matchmaker that he didn’t have the heart to tell her he wasn’t interested in Maggie. And he wasn’t about to turn down a coffee date with Ana. He could explain things to her then.

“The bakery?” he offered, figuring she’d like to meet at her friend’s place. “Tomorrow afternoon?”

“Jolly Beans,” she said, naming the café on the corner instead. “And we’d better make it Monday. It’ll be wild around here all weekend, and Theo won’t have preschool to keep him busy. Are you sure you want to wait that long?”

“I’ll wait as long as it takes,” he told her, losing himself in her beautiful brown eyes.

Her lips parted slightly and suddenly he didn’t care how crowded the shop was, he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and kiss her until they were both dizzy and breathless.

Instead, he tore his eyes away.

“Rory,” Ana’s mom said fondly as she joined them. “Thank you for your help at the repair shop the other day. It was very kind of you to take care of Ana.”

“It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Gutierrez,” he told her politely.

“So you’re here for your sister?” she asked him, placing a hand on his arm.

“Yes, ma’am,” he told her.