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Grabbing my keys from the kitchen bench, Luci’s ears pricked up and I winced. “Sorry, Luci, I’ll take you to the park later.” I knelt down to his gorgeous scruffy face, and tickled his chin. “Promise me you’ll behave while I’m gone.” He licked my hand, sending me back to the bathroom to wash off the residual slime.
Grabbing my bag and camera, I slid out the front door while Luci was running around, distracted by his new chew toy: my long-lost shoe.
It was a stunning morning and the park was only a ten-minute walk away, so I took my time ambling through the streets of Greenwich Village on my way there. Even after six years, I still couldn’t believe New York was my home. I loved growing up in Australia, but there was too much heartache there now. This was my fresh start, and so far, it was the best idea I had ever followed through with.
The fountain was the heart of the park and the most public place I could think of. As I sat on the steps by the water, it reminded me of the night we first met. Grayson was kind, charming and funny, not at all like his friends. But surely they knew him better than I did.
To ease my nerves, I lifted the camera and scanned through the crowd. Unsuspecting people went about their daily lives, while I patiently waited to capture their emotion. The mother’s smile as she watched her children splash around in the water. Snap. The teenage boy timidly reaching for his date’s hand. Snap. And the elderly man, sitting alone on a park bench, rotating his wedding band as tears welled in his eyes. Snap.
“Have you ever thought about becoming a private investigator?”
I jumped so high I almost dropped my camera. Spinning around, I found Grayson smiling from ear to ear, with a coffee tray in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other.
“Hi,” I said, nervously, eyeing his casual attire and the backpack resting on his shoulder. He wore designer jeans, a plain black shirt, a baseball hat and dark sunglasses. “Have you ever thought of becoming a private investigator?”
He glanced down at his outfit and smirked. “Well, I think I’d be pretty good at it, considering I was just watching you for the last ten minutes without you realising.”
My mouth fell open.
“Joke, Josie.” He chuckled, taking off his sunglasses. “It was only five.”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to see if Grayson was serious, but he distracted me with donuts.
“You didn’t tell me which flavour, so I bought them all,” he said, holding up the paper bag with Rosie’s stamped on the side.
My eyes widened and my mouth curved into a smile. Marry me. “I guess this means I have to hear you out now,” I said with a smirk. Grabbing the bag from his hand, I made a beeline to the nearest empty bench, glancing back to hurry him along.
Grayson sat beside me, watching curiously as I tore at the paper. I grabbed the first donut I came in contact with and tore it in half, offering him the other.
His eyebrows rose.
“Well, don’t you want to taste them all?” I asked in disbelief. I hadn’t met anyone who didn’t love Rosie’s donuts. But then, he wasn’t from New York.
He smiled and hesitantly took it out of my fingers, then threw his share into his mouth. Grayson’s eyes glazed over as he chewed.
“Amazing, right?” I mumbled with a mouth full.
He nodded approvingly. “Amazing.”
We were halfway through the bag, when Grayson cleared his throat. “I really am sorry for misleading my friends like that.”
I finished off the rest of my coffee and nodded, but kept my eyes lowered.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d see you again, and it was easier for them to believe there was someone else, rather than the truth.”
“What’s the truth?” I asked, picking at the lid of my empty coffee cup.
“That I wasn’t in love with Mel…I’m not sure I ever was.”
I breathed in deeply and met his eyes, smiling sadly. “Thank you for your honesty.”
Blush rose into Grayson’s cheeks.
I chuckled. “You don’t apologise much, do you?”
“I’ve never really had to.” He reached out and brushed some sugar off my nose, but when he pulled away, I noticed his grazed knuckles.
Taking his hand in mine, I grimaced. “What happened?”
