AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jeez,” she said to herself. Charter fishing must be a good living.
She punched the number Blaine had given her into the security pad by the door. It buzzed and the door opened. She took the elevator to the top floor, seven stories up. When it opened she stepped out in confusion. She seemed to be in someone’s foyer.
Blaine rounded the corner. He wore a white button down shirt and dark jeans. As always, his feet where bare. “You made it,” he said. He kissed both her cheeks, as if she were an English nun.
“Yes,” she said. “I didn’t know where I was when the elevator opened—“
“Private elevator,” he said. “It’s nice. No one traipsing by your door at all hours.”
“Right,” said Mia. Her own three-story condo building didn’t even have elevators. She dreaded lugging her groceries from her car, up the stairs, and into her apartment. Blaine didn’t seem to have that worry.
He led her into a spacious kitchen in a sleek modern style, all sparkly granite and stainless steel. A bouquet of yellow roses sat on the counter. “For you,” he said.
She smiled in appreciation. “Thank you!”
“Aren’t you going to read the card?”
She opened the lumpy envelope that he’d stuck in between the stems. The card had two smiling fish with googly eyes on the front. She opened it and a packet fell into her hand. She held it up. “Dramamine!”
“For our next boating adventure,” he said. He poured her a glass of white wine. “Would you mind going back outside before we eat?”
“Of course not. It’s a beautiful evening. Not as hot as yesterday.” She blushed when she said it.
They clinked glasses. “Here’s to it not being so hot,” he said. “Cheers.”
They took the elevator to the first floor and left the building via the back door. Mia followed Blaine toward a covered dock that jutted out into the clear water. He’d brought the bottle of wine, and stuck it into the bucket some magic ice fairy seemed to have left for them. The fairy had also brought cheese and crackers, two fishing poles and a bucket of bait.
“I thought we could try again,” he said, almost shyly. “If you want to.”
She grinned at him. “Yes! This is perfect. The prefect introduction.”
He handed her a pole and reached into the bait bucket. “You might not want to look,” he said. “Worms. Big nasty ones.”
“Gross,” Mia said. She shook her head and took a deep breath. “No, it’s okay. I can handle it.”
“You want to bait the hook?” He held up a gigantic, squiggling worm.
“No! No, no.” She stepped back. “I’ll look, but I won’t touch.”
He laughed, and she joined him. “That would be asking too much,” she said.
“I thought so,” he said. He turned away from her, so she mercifully couldn’t see what he was doing. When he turned around the hook seemed to be neatly coated with a worm that wasn’t squirming any more.
“That wasn’t so bad,” she said. He stood behind her and helped her cast the line into the harbor. He baited his own hook and threw out his cast.
“What now?” she asked.
“We wait,” he said. “And drink.”
The sun slowly dipped as they chatted and laughed and sipped wine. Every ten minutes or
so Blaine reminded Mia to cast again. He was easy to talk to, and funny, but she noticed it seemed like he asked all the questions. By the time it was dark, he knew everything about Mia: her family, her education, her childhood pets, her birthday and favorite colors and movies, and her love of children and teaching.
“I really admire you,” he said. “Teaching those small children. It takes so much patience and creativity.
“I love them like my own. I’d like to have at least three someday.” She smiled at him. “How about you? Do you want kids?”
He shrugged. “I’m not very patient.”
