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“I’m Arden, by the way.”
“Sam. Nice to meet you.”
“Do you come here a lot? I would if I lived here.”
“Just when I’m in the neighborhood. Where are you from?”
“Florida.”
“Oh wow. Yeah, this is a great little place. The chocolates are amazing. You should get some extra, take them home to your mom.”
“My mom doesn’t—she lives in Costa Rica. I don’t see her very often.”
“Huh.” Sam’s eyes glazed over for a moment, as if he’d never before considered the possibility of someone not living near their mother. “So where in Florida do you live?”
“The Gainesville area.”
“And that’s… on the Atlantic coast?”
“Nope. North-central part of the state. No beach.”
“Ah.” Sam took a sip of his drink and then said jokingly, “What’s the point of living in Florida if you’re not on the beach?”
Arden pressed her lips together and sank down a little in her seat. It was not in her nature to call people out for being rude, but he was tempting her. She happened to love her town.
“What’s the point of living in a city where it never stops raining?” Her voice was as sweet as the truffle she’d just eaten.
“Touché. What brings you to our city, anyway? Visiting friends for the holidays?”
“No, I’m here on a solo trip. Just wanted a change of scenery.”
“Seems to be the thing that all the girls are doing these days. My sister had the same idea.”
Arden tried to think of something to say. Was she being awkward, or was he? It was hard to tell. He was being perfectly pleasant, so maybe Arden was the problem.
“What do you do for work down there in Gainesville?” Sam asked to fill the silence.
“I’m a teacher.”
“Cool. What do you teach?”
“Kindergarten. I’ve been doing it for a few years. I really enjoy it. What about you?”
“I’m a supply-chain manager.”
“A what?” Arden desperately wished she could make some sort of clever observation about his job, but she had never heard of a supply-chain manager in her life.
Sam took it in stride. It seemed like he might be used to people being unfamiliar with his job title. “I source materials and manage logistics and supplier relationships at the company I work at. We make receipt-paper machines.”
“Oh.” Arden’s brain whirred, trying to think of something to say. “That sounds… interesting.”
She meant it as a sincere comment, but she could tell it had come out wrong. Like his comment about living in Florida. Almost like she was being sarcastic.
Sam looked down at his hands. “It’s all right. It keeps me busy. Actually, it’s a lot of responsibility. I’m in line to be director of supply chain. People seem to think I know what I’m doing.” He gave a short, humorless laugh.
“Do I detect a hint of imposter syndrome?” Arden smiled slightly. Was it possible that a handsome guy like Sam had self-esteem issues?
“Imposter syndrome?” He made a dismissive gesture.
