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“If that could work out it would be great.” His voice was soft, almost alluring in a way she’d never heard him speak to her before. It was putting her head through a tailspin.
Yes, she was definitely losing it. She’d gotten to the point where she’d made her delusions a reality. “Anyway, that’s all I wanted to show you.” It would be better to get out of there before she put her foot in her mouth.
He took a sudden step toward her and she gasped but thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice. “Do you mind staying for a little while? I’d love to talk to you about some of the other ways to market this.” He gestured toward the flyer. “Maybe there are some variations from your design that we can use in other ways?”
Allie glanced down at the flyer again then lifted her gaze to Luke. It would be dangerous to stay. She knew that already. But the only one she’d be hurting was herself. Finally, she nodded and offered a small smile. “Sure. I’ve got a little bit of time. But you need to be aware that my degree is in education. I didn’t even take any business classes, let alone marketing. So you might get what you pay for here.”
His laugh filled the room and she felt her heart soar. She’d never thought of herself as funny, but here he was laughing loudly at something she’d said.
Over the next half hour, they’d moved from standing to sitting on the floor with the chairs pushed aside and various pages strewn out before them. Her walls melted away as time turned backward and they became friends again. Laughter, jokes, and past memories were shared between them. There were no expectations to where this night would go.
It was a whole new world.
Luke pointed to one of the drawings she’d sketched out. “I really like this. Do you think I could commission a logo?”
Her lashes fluttered as she stared at him in surprise. “You want to use one of my drawings as a logo?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He picked up the picture and flicked it with his fingertips. “This one is really good.” His gaze captured hers, diving deeper beneath the surface. She wasn’t mistaken. He really was staring at her like she’d always hoped he would. “You’re amazing, Allie. All the stuff you can do, it’s just… wow.”
His hushed voice combined with the late hour gave her a wave of goosebumps. “It’s really nothing,” she murmured. “It’s a doodle. That’s all.”
“No, it’s more than that. You really are talented.” He put the paper down with the others and pointed to some of the other ideas she’d jotted down. “You’re looking at this in a way I never could. It’s like you have the ability to zoom out and see the bigger picture when I’ve just been…”
“Unable to see the forest for the trees?”
His eyes jumped up to meet hers. “Yeah. Exactly that. In every way possible.” And then he laughed again. It was music to her ears that her silly pun had hit him just like she’d hoped it would.
A lump formed in her throat and she glanced away. The goosebumps weren’t leaving any time soon. She felt like they had been transported back to when she was in high school and they were just two teenagers talking about their math assignment—only it was all just code words about who liked who.
Luke shifted where he sat letting the silence go on longer than was reasonable. This was her cue. She should take her leave before anything got awkward. But before she could make a move, he spoke again. “Has that ever happened to you?”
Her mouth was dry. It was like she’d been dropped in the middle of the desert with nothing more than a tablespoon of water. “Has what ever happened to me?” she whispered.
“That you became so focused on something you missed out on the bigger picture?” His brows lifted only so much that he could meet her gaze. “Like you spent all this time thinking you needed to do something or be something that you didn’t see what was in front of you.”
Allie shook her head. A strangled laugh escaped and she was embarrassed that she almost had to cough her head off were it not for the peppermints she had stashed in her pocket. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin a good moment of conversation by getting choked. “I mean, yeah. Of course. Everyone does.”
“Really? Because the way I remember it, you’ve always had a good understanding of where you wanted to go in life. You’ve always known the path you were going to take.”
She tore her gaze away, trying to find her words. “Yeah, well, that’s not the same thing as what you’re describing.” Allie fidgeted. This conversation had turned more intimate than she’d been prepared for. “There… are times… when I feel… like I want something different. Sometimes I realize I’m where I am because I’m just stubborn.”
He chuckled, drawing her eyes toward him. “You? Stubborn?”
“I mean it,” she laughed in spite of herself. “I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I also was creative. I thought marketing would be a way to blend the two. But that didn’t turn out to like I thought it would.”
“Seems like it takes creativity to inspire kids.” Luke raised his eyebrows making his statement feel like a question.
“It does in a way. And I guess my stubborn side made sure I went back to what I always knew was really right for me.” Her face brightened. “And I’m not sorry about that.”
“You shouldn’t be. You influence lives. That’s important.”
“It is. But no one gets through this life without realizing they made mistakes and wished they’d been able to change things. It’s like they say… hindsight is twenty-twenty.” If she could have gone back in time, she might have never introduced Luke to Shellie. But then he wouldn’t have had met the love of his life. He wouldn’t have his daughter. She would never wish that on him.
Luke’s brows furrowed. “Like what?”
She froze. It was as if he’d read her thoughts. “What?”
“What do you have to regret?”
