AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He liked how it showed her features off more.
She had some nice strong cheekbones, her eyes more an oval shape and light brown. Though her features weren’t soft, her personality made her so.
She reached for the bag he set down and started to open it. “Sandwiches, yum.”
“I took a guess. You had chicken on your nachos with tomatoes, lettuce and cheese so I figured they were all a safe bet.”
“Food is the last thing I’m fussy about,” she said. “I can’t tell you some of the things I had to eat in my life. I can’t pronounce them and don’t even want to know what might have been in them.”
He grimaced. “I like food but nothing out of the ordinary.”
Noelle was the one who loved all the fancy meals and parties that his mother used to throw. He’d rather have a burger and fries or a steak. No fussy sauces on them either.
“That’s me too. I want to know what I’m eating and be able to spell it.”
He laughed. “One sandwich is turkey and one is chicken. Take your pick.”
“Chicken works,” she said. “And since you said you were bringing the food, I brought dessert. I stopped at the bakery and grabbed two jumbo-sized cookies. One sugar cookie in case you don’t like chocolate and one chocolate chip in case you do. I love them both.”
He liked that they both were being considerate that way. That was why he felt like he could tell her about Noelle and why he was struggling so much and probably coming off awkward on top of it.
“I’m open to either. I’ve got a sweet tooth. Drove my mother nuts, saying I was going to have a mouth full of cavities and make the dentist rich.”
“I didn’t have that worry as a kid. I didn’t go to a dentist until I came back to America. Gross, I know. But we took care of our teeth. Thankfully no one ever had any issues.”
“There are a lot of people out there who would think you were lucky to not go to the dentist.”
He wasn’t sure what else he could say to that. She’d made it known that it wasn’t the lifestyle she’d wanted, but we couldn’t always pick what we wanted in our lives. He knew that first hand.
“Why don’t you just start where you’re comfortable talking.”
He took a sip of water and began. “You know my mother was an attorney in Tampa. She’s got a new career now. Myself too.”
“She did tell me that. She didn’t say anything about you though. I wouldn’t ask.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. If you did ask, she wouldn’t have answered, I’m sure.”
“Then it’s a good thing I didn’t ask and tick her off,” she said, then bit into her sandwich.
“You couldn’t tick her off. She likes you. She doesn’t know we are here right now, but once she finds out she’ll be jumping for joy and telling me it’s about damn time.”
“Why don’t you start with what you did before you bought a marina, if you want?” she asked.
“You didn’t look me up?” he asked.
Her face flushed a bit and he knew she must have tried. “I did Google your name but found nothing other than things connected to the marina. You’re not on any social media.”
“No,” he said. “I’m not. I detest it. I was Vice President of Operations at a manufacturing plant. We made parts for machinery used throughout the world. It was a big company.”
“And a stressful job by the sounds of it.”
“It was. I loved it though. The daily grind. I worked my way up fast. I got my MBA and knew I wanted to lead. I’ve got no problem talking to people. Or I didn’t. I guess I lost a lot of that in the past few years.”
“It can happen to the best of us. So you needed a career change too?”
“Something like that. I was married,” he said.
“I know,” she said, looking at the marks on his finger from his ring.
