Page 37 of My Big Fat Shifter Wedding

Normally, I loved her look of surprise. It was one of the first things about her that had stuck in my mind. But I didn’t like that she was wearing it just because I acknowledged that she was an attractive woman.

An extremely attractive woman.

“Wicked hot, huh? Are you trying to appeal to my Jersey side there?”

“I don’t know about that. I’m just telling the truth. You’re a very attractive woman, and that hasn’t been changed by what you wear.”

“You know, from anyone else I would think that was bullshit, but from you? I believe it.”

I didn’t know what I’d done to earn that trust, but I certainly wasn’t going to waste it.

“That’s good, because I mean it.”

Our eyes locked, and I was flooded with such an intense sense of connection.

For the life of me, I couldn’t understand what she saw in me, and in turn, it appeared that she was completely blind to her appeal. What a pair we were when we let those negative thoughts get too firm of a grip on the mind-megaphone.

Our conversation stalled, yet the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. We ate, made various appreciative noises over our food, and enjoyed each other’s company until the inclination to talk again reared its head.

“Believe me, I understand burnout, but it really comes across that they got too high on their own supply and thought they were untouchable, so they rushed the entire ending.”

Olivia slapped the table. I loved how passionate she was. Bonus, I also loved that she was passionate about silly little things that I also felt strongly about.

“Oh my god! That’s exactly how I felt. You put it into words perfectly! From what I heard, they basically had carte blanche to do whatever and make as many seasons as they wanted, but for whatever reason, they were just done. My theory is they were incredibly talented at translating a book’s content to a show’s content, because those are two very different forms of media, but once they had to write from scratch, they completely flamed out and didn’t know what to do. It really seems to be two different skill sets, and they assumed things would translate naturally.”

“Shit, I never even thought of that. I think you’re right!”

She sat back primly, giving me an exaggerated smarmy look. “I usually am.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, it is. Just like me.”

I didn’t think I’d laughed so much in a single night in years. My cheeks were hurting, and I was sure a new set of wrinkles had etched themselves into the corners of my eyes.

If I had known dating could be so fun, I would have been more proactive about it. Then again, maybe modern dating was every bit the nightmare everyone said it was, and it was the woman across from me who was making the difference.

Over the years, I’d met a lot of people from all walks of life. Poor and rich, young and old, nice and not so nice. But I’d never felt such a simple, easy connection to someone I barely knew. What was even crazier was that it didn’t feel like this was our first date. No, the total ease between us usually took months to achieve. I had never been a social butterfly, but she kind of made me feel like I could be.

Who knew, maybe she wasn’t human at all. Maybe she was a hallucination brought on by my loneliness. Well, if she was of my own mental creation, I never wanted to wake up from the dream, because I was having the time of my life!

The conversation wound this way and that, its path completely unpredictable but exhilarating. We went from serious to hilarious and never missed a step.

“So, when you were invited to pool parties, were you a regular swimsuit kid or a T-shirt-over-your-swimsuit-in-the-pool kid?”

“Bold of you to assume that I was ever invited to pool parties.”

“Sure you were! You’re telling me that none of your classmates had a parent who insisted that if they were going to invite anyone from their class they had to invite everyone?”

I gave her a look. When she’d told me she was one of seven kids, I’d assumed her family was rather destitute. After all, if my mother had a hard time getting by with just the two of us, I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been to feed seven mouths. But I guess, since she had mentioned her family’s company and warehouse, Olivia had had a much different financial upbringing than I had.

“None of my classmates had pools. Most of them lived in apartment complexes that didn’t have pools.”

“I see.” She blushed furiously. “Tell me, is there enough foot in my mouth to count as bringing outside food into the buffet?”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. Different upbringings, you know? It’s not like you’re being an ass about it.”

“I’m certainly not trying to be.”