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"Told you.I had the day off.”Jason winked.“Did go in and make a round of the patients, two hours tops.Finished up my last patient before calling you around five."
"Hmm."She dangled the ties."Think Trey and Chase will like these?"
"They're exceptionally ugly.I'm sure they will."He took one of them from her and held it under his chin."What do you think?"
She found herself grinning."Definitely not your style."A rush of inner heat flowed through her body in spite of the biting cold air."I ran into a stalker just a half hour ago.David the dentist won't leave me alone."
She loosened the scarf around her neck."If I didn't know better, I'd think you both were here because of me."
"I assume this David appeals to you in ways I never could.After all, being a dentist means he has a nine-to-five job.Home for you each night."
"That's true.”She pretended to consider this.“Unless he tried to stifle me and leave me no time to write.If he'd back off a little, I might like him more."
"Should I back off, so you'd like me more?"His eyes searched hers before he looked away."Don't answer that."
Vulnerability stamped Jason’s strong, handsome face.She swallowed a sudden lump in her throat."I'm not sure.My gut tells me that being friends with you is impossible."
He straightened and raised a finger."I've got an idea.Tomorrow night is Saturday.You and me go to dinner anywhere you like.One dinner, that's it.It will be entirely up to you if we move on from there or go our separate ways."
Tempting.Foolish.Her heart leaped in one direction, her brain another."You and I want different things.This is only a temporary stop for me.Come summer I'm leaving Harmony and intend to see the world that awaits.No time schedule, I don't know when or if I'll return at all."She touched his arm."It's my time to fly."
"I wouldn't stop you.That one summer we had together, I though of you as my beautiful butterfly, and I'd never want to clip your wings."
Why did those words hurt so much, and make her feel empty inside?
"Jason, without doubt, you make me wish things were different.I'm in a good space right now, and you...you should find a woman in your medical field.As much as we'd like to think differently, we're not a match."
He lowered his head and she immediately regretted hurting him.As a writer she knew the power of words and should have taken a moment to choose more wisely."Maybe not, but we were magic once."The blue of his eyes had deepened in color.She wanted to apologize but was afraid it might encourage him.
Her stomach clenched and she blinked back a flurry of tears.She brushed past him and brought the ugly ties to the portly man at the till.When she turned around a few minutes later, Jason was gone.
