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I squint my eyes and cup my chin. “Have you been on a cruise ship before?”
He frowns. “Are you changing the subject or making a point?”
His frankness startles me. I lift a palm. “Well, have you sailed or anything? Because if you head to the horizon, it just keeps going. You don’t fall off the edge.”
He rolls his eyes. “That’s not how it works.”
I’m getting annoyed now. “Yeah. I’ve been on one, and the ship didn’t fall into the abyss.”
“I’ve looked into the science of it too. Hours of YouTube videos explain it. I’ll send you some links.”
I raise a hand. “Wait a minute. Tell me, have you seen Google Earth? Space documentaries? Are you saying they make it all up? Like it’s all trick photography or something?”
He nods.
My jaw slackens. “What about the man on the moon? Do you believe it was all a hoax—the first landing on the moon? I know some people believe that—” That total cow patty. Shut the door, people.
He points his fork at me. “True. NASA wanted to look like they were the first ones.” Joey’s eyes go huge like an alien spaceship. “They weren’t.” His voice grows louder.
I look around to see who’s watching. My eyebrow twitches. I’m so glad I don’t know anyone here. Although, if I did, I might send them an SOS.
“Aliens,” I blurt. “Do you believe in aliens?”
“I do,” he says proudly. “I could talk all day on that subject.”
I slowly place a hand on my handbag, nodding and smiling at Joey. I shake my hand over the fabric. “Oh. My phone’s vibrating.” I flutter my lashes. “Do you mind?”
He gestures to my bag. “Sure. Go for it.” He scoops the last bite of his salmon and leans back.
I act calm as I get my cell and pretend to press a button before placing it to my ear. “Hello.”
Who can be calling me who’s important?
“Oh, hi, Ethan. Yes . . . Right . . . oh, didn’t I? You need me right now?” I glance away. “Can it wait? I’m in the middle of something. What about in thirty minutes?” I mock-frown. “No? All right. I’m sorry I missed that. I’ll come and fix it right away. See you soon.”
I slip my phone into my purse and glance at Joey. “I’ve goofed the paperwork from today. I need to file some insurance forms.” I do need to complete some paperwork I rushed through so I could fit in this date. Delete date. Out-of-body experience. A weird encounter with some stalker from social media. Oh, man.
Joey looks disappointed. His forehead lines. “Sure. Do what you need to.”
I push up from my seat. “I’ll pay my half at the bar.”
He stands. “No, I can pay. No problem.”
A brilliant idea pops into my head. “Look, Joey. I had a nice time getting to know you as a client. But you should know I’m engaged.”
He blinks. “Oh. You should’ve said so from the beginning.”
“My bad. I thought you wanted to catch up as”—I lift one shoulder—"a supporter of my videos. Kind of like a fan. Sounds funny, doesn’t it?”
He smiles now, and the heavy weight on my shoulders lifts.
“Yeah, I’m a bit of a fan. Can we get a selfie before you go?’
“Oh, I’d love that.” Relief runs through my body. “Great idea.”
We squeeze together, and he takes a few snaps. We do a high-five pose and another with my two fingers behind his head like alien antennas. He goes with it.
We finish, and he gives me one last kiss on the cheek. “Your fiancé’s a lucky guy.”
