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28
As Cara stepped into the vintage elevator, she was still smiling and replaying the past few minutes in her head. This did not go unnoticed by Manny, the elevator operator who had wished her good luck on her first delivery.
“Are you smiling because you just broke the record for being the longest delivery ever made to his apartment?” Manny asked wryly.
“Oh...no... just thought of something funny,” Cara replied, keeping her promise to Coop. Manny wasn’t buying it.
“Riiiight...okay,” he chided, but knew well enough to leave it at that.
Manny and Cara exchanged pleasantries as the elevator doors opened to the spacious lobby of the Westcott Hotel, and Cara waved to Henry as she hopped on her scooter and sped off back to Stucky’s Place.
The “Free Friday” rush was heavier than usual and made the time pass quickly. Before Cara knew it she only had a half hour to go in her shift. There were no deliveries to be made, so Cara helped with the side work as usual - folding pizza boxes, chopping vegetables, and cleaning any areas that needed it.
Cara was in the middle of folding a pizza box when Stucky yelled for her, “Cara! Line 1!”
It wasn’t uncommon for Cara to get phone calls at work, especially from her family, but when she heard Cooper Madison’s southern drawl on the other end of the line when she answered the call it startled her.
“Uh...yes, is this Miss Knox?” Coop asked.
“Oh….umm.... yes this is her… I mean this is Cara… this is she,” Cara replied awkwardly, planting the palm of her hand against her forehead in embarrassment.
“Listen…I’m sorry for bothering you at work, and all, but would you be interested in… uh… coming over to watch a movie?” Coop inquired, still in disbelief that he was doing this. He had to, though. After she left he almost called and placed another food order just to get her back over again.
He wasn’t sure what it was about her that he liked so much, but he knew that he wanted nothing more than to figure out just that.
Coop had given up on dating not long after his father passed, despite the efforts of his friends to set him up. He went on a few dates, but he could never get past the part that every girl seemed to already know everything about him before they met him. He was pretty sure that some even studied like they would for a test.
He sensed something different with the cute delivery girl, so he summoned up the nerve to ask her over.
“Umm, do you mean go see a movie? Like at a theater?” Cara asked.
Coop’s heart sank. The thought of going out in public to a movie theater with a girl and what any media outlets would make of it terrified him.
Before he could answer, Cara rescued him, almost as if she could read his mind.
“Listen, I would love to go see a movie. I can’t even remember the last time I was in a movie theater, but I have a rule. No movie theater dates with a guy until he invites me over to his house and cooks for me first. If he does a good job, then we can discuss a movie.”
As the words rolled off Cara’s tongue she couldn’t believe that everything came out so smoothly, let alone when talking to a famous athlete.
She wasn’t sure what it was about him that enabled her to feel so comfortable, but she knew that she wanted nothing more than to figure out just that.
“Oh… cook, huh? I’ve never had to audition for a date before,” Coop answered, relieved but also caught off guard. After all, professional athletes don’t usually have to work too hard to get a date.
“Well, I love food too much to date a guy who can’t cook,” Cara said, even more shocked than before at her newly found brashness.
“Well then, do you like shrimp?” Coop asked, praying she’d say yes.
“Oh, I love shrimp!”
“Do you like your shrimp to have a kick?”
“Let’s just say that I have a shirt from Wild Wings Cafe that says I like my food spicy,” Cara responded, referring to the time her friends dared her to take the 9-1-1 hot wings challenge.
“I’ll take that as a warning. How does tonight at 7 o’clock sound?”
“See you then…” Cara responded coolly, and then hung up. Her palm returned to her forehead again. Who was this person saying all these things?
Then it hit her.
Holy crap… what am I getting myself into? He probably has a girl in every city! He dated Miss Freaking Mississippi!
Then she looked at the clock, which read 3:02 pm.
What am I going to wear? Should I tell someone? Who would even believe me? No… I’m not telling anyone… Am I supposed to bring something? What am I DOING??
These thoughts continued as she rode back to Viking Hall on her Vespa. She had a couple of hours to get herself together still, and she even started to think about backing out but quickly erased that as an option because she had a feeling that Cooper Madison wasn’t the type of guy who would give up that easily.
She had to go through with it.
