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But would I be able to plant roots and live in the same town as Natalia? And what if Anthony moved back home after I cleaned up his mess? What if he tried to win Natalia back for a third time?
I blew out a deep, exhausted breath, realizing my open palm had once again converted into a fist.
My gaze cut to Natalia sipping her drink, finding her eyes on me instead of focused on her date. Was that a quiet request to bail her out?
I took her slight nod as a yes, and I turned off the truck and hopped out.
I uttered a gruff, “Excuse me,” while circling their small table. “Natalia needs to leave.”
The doctor shoved his sunglasses into his hair and narrowed his gaze at me. The hint of recognition in his green eyes was short-lived. Nope. He didn’t remember me.
“Not sure who you are, but we just sat down.” He jerked a thumb my way. “You want to go with this guy? Who is he?”
“I think that, um . . .” Natalia’s words were caught in her throat. She had a sweet side. One she reserved for most people, and I rarely saw because we were usually arguing. She obviously didn’t want to be rude to the guy, so from the looks of it, she was struggling with how to let him down.
“Let me help you out. You were probably planning to ask some basic questions to get to know her, right?” I stood behind Natalia’s chair, holding onto the back as I faced him. “Well, she takes her coffee with milk and sugar. Real sugar, not the fake shit.” I paused for a second. “You probably ordered her some fancy latte before she arrived.”
The doctor opened his mouth to speak, but I shook my head.
“Let’s see. Her favorite color is blue. But not just any blue. She loves the color of the iridescent waters you find at Spiaggia dei Conigli. That shade of blue. Well, blues, I suppose.”
I felt Natalia’s eyes on me and discovered she’d twisted in her seat to peer up at me.
“And as for her taste in men, it’s horrible. Well, her mother’s taste in men for her is garbage. The fact you’re sitting across from her is testament to that. So, you’re wasting your time sitting here, I can promise you that.” I released her chair, retrieved a ten from my wallet, and set it on the table. “For the overpriced latte.”
Still staring at me, Natalia slowly stood, appearing a bit shell-shocked for a moment before recovering enough to turn back to her date. “Thanks for the latte, but he’s right, I prefer regular coffee. And also . . . I don’t want to waste your time. I should go.” And with that, she started for the truck without waiting for a response.
“Did that just happen?” the doctor asked while standing, and I did a quick mental prayer he wasn’t stupid enough to toss any rude words toward Natalia for her abrupt departure. Punching a doctor in the face might land me in jail for assault. “Well.” He grabbed the money and pocketed it when I remained quiet. “Looks like you should’ve been her date.” And then he left, heading for a red Mercedes convertible.
I shrugged off his words and went to my truck. Natalia was already inside since I’d left it unlocked when I’d hauled ass to “rescue her.”
I jumped behind the wheel and immediately started up the engine. “Where to now, ma’am?” I looked over at her with a satisfied smirk at the fact her date was, thank God, over.
She folded her arms and studied me. “What the hell was that?”
“What do you mean? I thought you wanted a save.” I opened my palms in confusion. “You did the head-nod thing.”
“I’m talking about the stuff you said. How’d you know all that about me?”
“I’ve known you for nearly twenty-five years. Or have you forgotten?”
She shook her head. “And you haven’t lived here for most of that time.” She leaned in over the console as if trying to see if I was wired and had someone feeding me intel in real time. “How in the world did you know my favorite color is because of Spiaggia dei Conigli? Because of Rabbit Beach?” she asked, a bewildered look on her face. “I’ve only been to Sicily that one time when I was ten, but the colors of the sea at the beach there had been nothing like I’d ever seen, and I fell in love.”
I smoothed a hand over my stubbled jawline. “When we were kids, you constantly drew pictures of Rabbit Beach after you returned from your trip there. You even gave some to my mom, and she’d put them on our fridge. From that point on, whenever you wore any shade of blue, it was no longer just blue, it was—”
“Rabbit Beach blue. I honestly forgot about that.” She smiled. “But yeah . . . still my favorite.”
“See.” I shrugged. “I know you.” I focused back out the front window, unable to keep looking her in the eyes. Because my favorite color was the color of her eyes. They were far from “just green” in my mind. “By the way, my dad’s friend will have the parts I need to fix your Jeep by Monday,” I deflected.
“Oh, okay. Thank you,” she returned in a daze.
“So, where can I take you?”
“Wellll,” she began, “we have some time before I teach yoga at one. Maybe we should discuss a plan or something?”
“For how to win over one of the women in your class?” I drummed my fingertips on the wheel, uneasy with this whole situation.
“I can get you a guest pass. My gym is over in Ballantyne near that shopping complex, Waverly. We should grab a change of clothes first,” she suggested. “They have food if you want to eat and discuss a game plan before class.”
