Chapter Three
Iwas so notin the mood for thisdate.
I was going, of course. I mean, it would've been rude to cancel. And Maura would have been disappointed. But I had approximately the same enthusiasm I have for my annual dental checkup. It might be good for me, but I wasn'texcited.
The crowd at the bakery today had been incredible, and we'd been pushing from the moment we opened at 9 AM until I'd finally locked the door behind the last customer at 5. The backroom was a disorganized nightmare, and we were seriously low on stock. I was physically exhausted and cursing myself for volunteering to make seven dozen tequila-lime cupcakes for tomorrownight.
But as I dragged my ass upstairs to the little two-bedroom that was all mine now that Gran had moved out, threw my clothes in the hamper, and ducked into the world's fastest, hottest shower, I couldn't deny that physical fatigue had only the tiniest bit to do with my lack ofenthusiasm.
The guy had seemed sonice!
Ash, with the dark eyes and the kind smile, the broad shoulders that I'd bet any amount of money led to bulging biceps beneath his leather jacket. Ash who, if I understood the half-conversation I'd overheard yesterday, had been in theNavy, like a damn hero. Ash with the sly, intelligent humor, who'd been looking at me like I was dessert and salvation all in the samepackage.
Ash, who I'd conveniently kept forgetting was engaged, even though his fiancée was rightthere.
Ash who'd gone off to Vegas and hired a lap dancer, then somehow wound up in jail and had the audacity to call his fiancée for bailmoney?
Yuck.
I still couldn't believe the things Karen had accused him of yesterday. And he hadn't said a single word to defendhimself.
I'm usually a much better judge of character than that, even at a first meeting. But then, I'm not used to plummeting into attraction as fast as I did with Asheither.
I could only hope Heart2Heart did better at judging my match than I'd done. They certainly couldn't doworse.
I pulled a chunky white cable-knit sweater from my drawer and threw it on with some dark jeans, then pulled on my blue wool coat and some thick boots. It was still really cold out there, and I had a little bit of a walk ahead ofme.
In a text convo that had taken all of twenty words, Frogman had agreed with my suggestion of Burger Geek as a place we could meet for dinner. My friend Mariely had opened the place two months ago, so I wanted to be loyal, and I figured it'd be the only restaurant in O'Leary that wasn't packed with people out celebrating Valentine's Day anyway. Besides, my taste in food was pretty simple - I liked plentiful and delicious, not pretentious. I figured my guaranteed-perfect match wouldtoo.
The cold air stung my cheeks as I walked down Weaver, past the closed-up bookstore and the little thrift store where Gran used to get my clothes when I was a kid, and I was feeling marginally better by the time I got to Burger Geek. I love the cold - the way everything goes crystalline-perfect, and I'm forced to be awake andalive.
That feeling faded the second I threw open the door, and the warm, charcoal-scented air hit me. Because, sitting at a table in the middle of the restaurant, looking even handsomer than he had the day before in a green button-down with his dark hair styled back, was none other than AshMartin.
Of all the gin joints in all ofO'Leary...
He was sitting at a two-seat table, perusing the menu with a puzzled frown on his face. The seat across from him was unoccupied, but there was a menu placed beside a glass of water on the tabletop in front of the empty chair. Clearly he wasn'talone.
Of course not. Ash had a Valentine already, such as shewas.
My eyes scanned the room for Karen -please, God, don't let her see me and start chatting cakes- but she must have been in the ladies’room.
I ducked back into the entryway, where Ash couldn't see me, and grabbed the phone from my pocket. Maybe it wasn't too late to change the venue with Frogman. Stupid and nonsensical andannoyingas it was, I couldnothave a date while Ash was in the same room. I already felt like one corner of my brain was attuned to the Ash, like some kind of telepathic GPS that wouldn't let me concentrate on anything else, and Frogman deservedbetter.
But when I pulled up the app, there was already a message waiting forme.
Arrived at Burger Geek! I'll grab atable.
Too late, dammit. I was having the worst run ofluck.
I took a deep breath. Okay. Fine. I could do this. I peeked around the corner -don't judge, okay?- and glanced around the room, looking for a face I didn't recognize - a single guy sitting alone. But it was Valentine's Day, so there only seemed to be families and couples. Except forAsh.
I ducked back into the entryway and pulled out my phoneagain.
I'm here too, I texted back.Blue coat, white sweater, front of the restaurant. Where areyou?
Green shirt, he replied. Middletable.
Oh. Oh,God.
