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“I don’t know why you’re smiling at me.”
“I find you interesting.”
“Interesting in a good way or a bad way?” I find myself genuinely wanting to hear his answer.
He laughs that warm chuckle I’m growing to like. “Good. Definitely good.”
The waitress must have a sixth sense of interrupting our most awkward encounters and I make a mental note to give her the best tip I can possibly throw her way. She sets our coffee down on the table and retreats when another customer across the room hollers for her.
I softly blow over my cup and watch the steam dance in the air.
“What are you doing Thursday?”
His question startles me and when I jerk to the side, some of my coffee spills over the side of my cup. I wipe my mug and the few droplets on the table, set my drink down, and pull my day planner out of my bag.
“You write your schedule inthat?” He points with his mouth as he lifts his coffee to his lips.
“Yes, why?”
“You know your phone has a calendar on it, right?”
“I prefer writing it out myself.” I flip to the month of November and run my finger across this week and land on Thursday. “I am flying back from Milwaukee that morning.”
“And after that?” I catch him staring at me again. “Any plans that evening?”
“No,” I shake my head and put my planner back in my bag. “Why?”
“It’s Thanksgiving. I thought if you were alright with it, we could spend some more time together.” When I hesitate, he adds, “For appearances, of course. We are supposed to be a couple.”
“Don’t you have plans with your family?”
“Not this year. My parents are still on their Caribbean cruise and won’t be back until next week. Tess is going to her boyfriend’s family’s house in Vancouver, crossing her fingers for an engagement ring, and Caleb will be with Sarah. One last holiday for them as singles before the wedding.”
I watch him intently, curious to know the real reason he’s asking to spend Thanksgiving with me. Even though he said he would be alone, I can’t help thinking he’s asking me to join him soIwon’t be alone. I reach for my planner and click the top of my pen.
“What did you have in mind, Théoden?”
Chapter Three
It has been three days since I met Theo in the coffee shop and as busy as I have been flying around the country, I can’t help but think about him and those hypnotizing green eyes.
Halfway through the flight from Milwaukee to Seattle, I sit in the back of the plane and open a bag of M&Ms with the full intention of gorging a family size pack to myself. But I’m also supposed to be on a diet in a show of solidarity with my roommate, Tommy, who is all about fitness these days. And by these days, I mean, the last week and a half.
Today I’m flying with both of my roommates who consequently are my best friends.
Eve is drop dead gorgeous. She’s tall with a model’s physique and has the smoothest dark skin I’ve ever seen. She has such a commanding presence and being from Atlanta, Georgia, she is the epitome of southern belle.
When Tommy was two, his parents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines. They were hoping he would go into the medical field like his two older sisters, but he wanted to see the world and decided being a flight attendant was what fit the bill for him. He is Eve’s opposite in every way. He is short, stocky, and serious, to her tall, lean, and expressive.
We all met ten years ago when we went to basic training together. Deciding we wanted to stay together, we requested to be stationed in Seattle because it is where Tommy and I were from, and Eve was itching to live anywhere but Georgia.
Ten years of friendship, work, and living together and we are still going strong. A family. It is the closest thing I have to one and I am grateful for them.
But with Tommy seriously dating a girl he had met in high school but hadn’t seen again until two years ago, marriage was just around the corner for them.
Eve has been considering buying a place of her own with the money she has saved up so she can move her mom up from Atlanta to live with her.
And I am still trying to figure out what I really want in life. Other than traveling of course. I have given marriage a lot of thought. I even thought I was close this year when I was dating Derek, but he…
