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He sat next to me. “Ok, so you were telling me we knew each other at UNC?”
I looked away. “I mean. Yes. No. It’s—” I stopped and looked at him. “You really don’t remember me?”
His eyes creased on the side. It was sexy and cute at the same time. Damn. My heart fluttered a little. “Tell me something. Help me jog my memory.” He stretched his arm around the top of the bench, circling my back with the length of his arm. There it was. The ease. The familiarity we didn’t have, but he made me believe with a simple gesture.
I twisted my lips together. The wine helped. AJ’s intense gaze on me also helped.
“Professor Daniels. Econ 10. We sat in the second to last row. The getaway row we called it.” I laughed.
“Yeah. Yeah. I did sit back there.” He nodded. “Keep going.”
I watched when he swallowed. Even his throat was gorgeous. He had been good-looking in college, but he had been a boy on the verge of adulthood then. Now he was all man. A gorgeous tall sexy man that made me want to hop in a time machine and relive what I could and should have done with him in college.
I kept chattering nervously. “And you worked at the Buzz Spot. You used to give me free coffees when I went in there with Jenn Kelly. We would go Fridays after lunch. It was kind of our way to end the week.”
“I did? Every Friday? Hmm.”
I nodded. “I think you gave a lot of people free coffee.” I laughed.
“No shit. I’m lucky they didn’t fire me. And you were friends with Jenn?” I could tell he was studying me, trying to remember something. Anything about a time our paths crossed. I could tell it bothered him.
“Roommates actually.” I started doing that nervous thing with my hair when I brushed it over my shoulder and then back again.
“Fuck me. You lived with Jenn? I know I hit a few parties at her place.”
“You did. Many times.”
“Then I’m a complete asshole.”
I shook my head. “It’s not a big deal.” I wanted to drop it. I didn’t want to make him feel bad, and I didn’t like being the only one with the memories.
“It is.” He took a gulp of wine. “What was I doing that I don’t remember a girl like you?”
My eyes dropped to the cobblestone pavers. “I have no idea. It’s fine. Let’s talk about something else.” I had already finished half of the glass of wine. I was nervous drinking, but I didn’t want to get drunk.
“All right.” He sighed. “We can talk about something other than Econ 10. Are you friends with Becca or Travis?”
I looked through the windows at the party taking place inside. Travis had Becca in a tight grip. They were laughing in the kitchen. She looked up at him, throwing her head back.
“Becca and I work together at DataCorp,” I answered.
“So you must have been a computer science major? That’s it. I got that right, didn’t I?”
I winced. He was increasingly more irresistible, and I didn’t want to disappoint him, but he wasn’t close. I hadn’t taken more than a general college class in that department.
“No. I needed a job. I sort of fell into IT. I was a Lit major. I have no idea what I thought I was going to do with that. Write a book? Review books? Teach writing? I have no idea.” I laughed. “But you know college gives you this false idea that you can do anything. Be anything. There was no way to support myself being a literary critic.” I sighed. “But wouldn’t that be awesome if that’s what I did every day instead of solving corporate IT crises?” I mused. I didn’t know why I was suddenly so philosophical.
There was something nostalgic in the air. The lights overhead. The garden echoing the splash of the stone fountain. The chilled wine and the hot guy sitting next to me. It had the makings of the beginning. The beginning of something epic.
His body turned, leaning into my space. I inhaled his clean scent. He didn’t wear much cologne. Just enough to make my head spin.
“I can’t get anything right tonight, can I?”
I took in a gulp of air. I immediately thought of a long list of things AJ was probably excellent at doing. Anything in the dark. Anything in the shower. Anything that involved him naked. Those were my top three.
I’d never wondered about him before. He hadn’t crossed my mind that way in college. Until I saw him tonight I hadn’t thought about where he’d gone after graduation. All of that was about to change.
Chapter Nine
