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“You okay?” he asked for the second time in less than five minutes since I walked into him.
This interaction was off to a resounding start.
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “The fried-food smell just got to me.”
“Are you sick? Is there somewhere I can take you?”
I shook my head. “No, thank you. I’m getting better. I thought I was better, but this stomach bug is no joke. Apparently, it’s not going to let up until it damn well wants to.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” he said somewhat awkwardly. Which was exactly what I would expect in that particular circumstance. There weren’t really many other directions to go. “Well, I hope you feel better.”
He stood up, and I started to follow suit, then changed my mind and settled back onto the bench. I would just hang out there for a little while, add some people-watching to the mix of the day. In a bit I would decide if I wanted to brave the produce again or head back home with my bounty of greens.
“Thank you,” I said. “And thanks for helping me.”
He nodded and started to walk away. I watched him move back toward the crowd. I would have been perfectly happy to make him my people-watching focus for the day. It startled me slightly when he stopped and turned back around to face me almost like he could feel my stare. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he had. I wasn’t exactly being subtle about it.
I was waiting for the raised eyebrow. Instead, he took a step closer to me again. the questioning
“Hey, can I take you to dinner when you’re feeling better?”
Wait… what?
CHAPTER 14
ALEX
That was not what I should have said. Full stop. Of all the things that could have come out of my mouth when I turned around again, that was the last of them that should have exited my lips.
What the hell was I thinking? This poor girl was nearly about to puke her brains out over a stomach bug, and I had the gall, the temerity to ask her out? Had I spent too long staring at screens and forgotten how to people?
But she looked so damn cute. I couldn’t get over it. She was stunning and adorable, and even though she wasn’t feeling well, I couldn’t get past the thoughts I had been having about her since the last time I saw her. Her face had been bouncing around in my thoughts for long enough that I guess it just short-circuited the part of my brain normally responsible for any semblance of acting cool or knowing what appropriate times would be to ask someone to dinner.
Seriously, the woman was about to lose her lunch, and I was asking her to go eat. How dim could I be?
Yet, as long as I kept a smiling face and pretended like it was a totally normal thing to ask out a woman who was clearly in distress, then it might work. I was cocky enough to try at least. By the surprise on her face, I was going to have to match it with a lot of confidence.
But she was in my thoughts so much recently, I just didn’t have the ability to let her go if I didn’t have to. By the look spreading across her face, I wasn’t going to be in much luck, and I couldn’t stand the idea of her turning me down. I had to think of something fast and be as sure about it as possible. I figured that bravado had brought me this far. Might as well go the full Monty.
“So,” I said, “what do you say?”
There was an awkward silence for a few moments, and a gust of wind blew her hair away from her long, slender neck. I felt my own stomach tighten, and I had to move my eyes to hers and not let them drift.
“Okay,” she said, “sure. If you’re sure.”
I grinned.
“Good,” I said. “Before I go, I might need your number. In case I don’t catch you at the school.”
Slowly, she stood up and held out her hand. At first, I wasn’t sure what she wanted, and then I realized what she was doing and handed my phone over. She opened my contacts and typed her name before adding her number. Then she called herself and hung up.
“There you go,” she said. “Numbers exchanged.”
“Awesome,” I said. “Now, do you want me to stay here with you? You don’t look like you’re doing very well.”
“No, no,” she said, shooing me away. “Go back to your group. I’m fine.”
She tried to take a step and clearly felt woozy, rocking on her heels for a second and blinking heavily.
“Are you sure about that?” I asked.
She closed her eyes tight and held up one finger. I waited for a moment while she composed herself and then shook her head. As she did, her hair shook, and I felt my stomach tighten again. She was so sexy, even when she was sick. How would she be when she was feeling confident in herself? Would I be able to handle it? I had never had a problem with being intimidated by women before. Surely this wasn’t intimidation; it was just… something else. I was impressed by her. Thoroughly impressed.
