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Chapter 6
RILEY
Walking up to the bistro where Daniel and I agreed to meet on the walk back to my car the night before, I start to wonder if he’ll even show up. Sure, that panty-dropping kiss pretty thoroughly proved he wants to see more of me but he also seemed set on keeping distance between us. What if, after a decent night’s sleep and with a clear head in the morning, he changes his mind?
The second I step inside, I find my fear is completely misplaced.
At a table, against the wall, opposite the counter, Daniel leans back in his chair. One leg crossed over the other knee, using the table at his side as an armrest while holding open a newspaper.
“Seriously, Daniel? Who are you trying to fool? Not even my Grandma reads the newspaper anymore,” I say plopping down in the seat across from him.
Daniel folds the newspaper and tucks it back into the rack behind him. “I was early and it was here.” After turning his chair to sit properly at the table, Daniel puts his hand, palm up, in the center of the wooden surface. There’s a shy smile curling one side of his mouth and a sparkle in his eyes that’s irresistible.
Butterflies tickle my insides as I place my palm on his. Their wings go wild at the base of my spine when he closes his fingers and my little hand disappears behind his thick fingers.
I’d been so worried he wouldn’t show up and now, here he is, confessing to being early. Excited to see me again. But not as excited as I am to see him. And I show him by slipping a foot out of my ballet flats to draw a line with my toe up the inside of his leg.
The higher my toe drifts, the tighter Daniel grips my hand.
I can’t help noticing, he isn’t stopping me.
“Hi. I’m Mandy and I’ll be your server today.” The waitress says stepping up to the table.
Daniel sits up, backing away from my pursuit, clearing his throat.
I take the hint but don’t pull away. I just run my toe back down and tuck it up into the leg of his jeans. Daniel’s cheeks turn every shade of red.
“We’ll both have the French dip,” I say rejecting the menu the waitress hands me.
After taking my menu back, she takes the one Daniel holds out to her and heads for the kitchen.
“You’re not going to argue with me ordering for you?” I ask still running my toe over his ankle. Which he doesn’t seem to mind anymore.
“We may not know a lot about each other yet but I know I’d be an idiot to argue with you about food.”
“Smart man.”
“Don’t give me too much credit. I’m pretty well known for making dumb decisions. Like last night.”
I slide my foot from the warm cocoon of his pant leg. What if he thinks this—meeting me here, letting me push myself on him—is one of those dumb decisions? And this is his subtle way of warning me off? Letting me down easy…
An eel swims in circles in my stomach, threatening to make me sick.
I like him. A lot. More than I should like someone I barely know. But there’s something about him—when I’m with him—I feel like I belong. Nothing else makes me feel this way. Not the things my sister did to help me settle into my new place. Certainly, not my job. Just him. Even when I convinced myself I’d never see him again, the time I spent with him in my dreams, made my reality tolerable.
I slip my foot back in my shoe.
“I ate every one of the cookies you baked.” Daniel bumps his toe into mine. That sparkle playing in his eyes again. “But I don’t regret it for a second.”
The waitress sets our meals in front of us. I waste no time taking a bite, if for no other reason than to hide the color of my cheeks behind my sandwich.
“Wow,” Daniel says after swallowing his first bite. “From now on, I’m not ordering anything without consulting you first.”
The squirming in my stomach settles, replaced, again, by the flutter of butterfly wings when he winks at me and takes another bite. But then the squirming finds its way back and up my throat when a familiar voice calls my name.
“Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” Spencer asks taking the chair from a nearby table and sitting backward on it at our table.
“Sorry. Been super busy,” I tell him with as much annoyance in my tone as I can muster.
