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But no matter how much I told myself that I was turning over a new leaf and going to try to give myself more in my life, there was not a chance I was going to be magically cured overnight.
I was unbelievably terrified. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to open my mouth and speak to him first without any direction. What would I even say to him?
Surely, there was nothing I could possibly say about anything that would have been of any interest to someone like him.
And eating?
How could I even think about eating when I felt this nervous? I’d probably just take a few bites and wind up vomiting all over the place.
This whole thing had been a great idea in theory, but putting it into practice wasn’t exactly fun and games for me. It wasn’t even remotely practical. I wanted to do this, yes, but jumping right in at this level was probably the worst idea I’d had in a very long time.
“Are you going to eat?”
At the sound of Leo’s voice, the thoughts in my head stopped swirling. “What?”
He gestured toward my sandwich. “Your lunch. Aren’t you going to eat it?”
I looked down at my food, stared for a moment, and returned my attention to him. “Um, yeah. I was just… distracted for a minute.”
Leo offered a reassuring smile. It was as though he had this ability to read me. It was like he knew precisely what was going through my mind and just how anxious I was.
The two of us lifted our sandwiches in our hands, but before he took a bite, Leo asked, “So, does it work?”
My brows pulled together. “Does what work?”
He’d taken a bite of his sandwich, so he didn’t immediately respond. I didn’t mind, because at least he had good table manners and wouldn’t talk with a mouth full of food. But the problem was that I was stuck in limbo, waiting for an answer.
That might not have been a problem if I wasn’t so attracted to his mouth. I had been trying to keep my eyes off of his lips from the moment he came up to me outside when I was crawling around on the sidewalk. Now, sitting across from him while he chewed, it was impossible to look anywhere else.
Leo must have noticed the effect he was having on me, because once he swallowed his food—another thing I hadn’t been able to ignore—his lips twitched.
I thought it was great he was feeling amused, but I was mortified. I quickly looked away from him, sunk my teeth into my sandwich, and chewed frantically while I tried to get a grip.
This was going horribly wrong, and if I didn’t pull myself together, Leo would likely never want to talk to me again. Or maybe he’d just keep me around for entertainment purposes.
I took a second bite and finally returned my attention to him. Leo was still looking at me like he thought I was amusing, but he didn’t hesitate to respond. “The brochures and letters you send out,” he clarified. “I’m assuming you do it to help spread the word about your place. I was just curious if you see a positive response from it.”
Okay, so maybe this wouldn’t all be bad.
Whether he knew how much I was struggling or not, the fact that Leo had found a way to break the ice and open up the conversation had me letting out a huge sigh of relief.
Thank goodness for him.
Once I set my sandwich down and took a sip of my water, I answered, “It’s hard to say on the brochures. The truth is, not everyone who comes to stay in one of the tiny homes indicates what brought them there to begin with. I will say, though, that the letters help.”
“What’s the difference between the letters and the brochures?” he asked.
“The brochures go out to cold leads, so I think that’s just a matter of it being hit or miss in most cases,” I started. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they wound up in the trash in a lot of cases. But the letters are different, because they are sent to people who’ve already stayed at Short and Sweet.Depending on the time of year, I offer them incentives and discounts to return. That’s something that’s a bit easier to track, and I’ve definitely had some people come back.”
Leo nodded his understanding as he continued to eat. Then he asked, “How long have you been in charge of the property?”
I thought that was a strange question. “Since I bought the land and built the homes.”
“What?”
“What?” I countered, curious as to why he seemed so confused.
Genuine surprise littered Leo’s features. “You bought the land and built those homes?”
