“Yes.” My palms sweat. “Is that too weird? Y-y-you don’t have to. I’m going to make homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs for dinner, and I always make too much. Oh, and I make garlic bread…” My voice trails off as I watch him continue to stare without moving a muscle.
Great. You’ve scared him off, and now he thinks you’re a psycho.
He watches me for another beat, eyes warm but edged with darkness. “Not weird,” he says softly. “Just unexpected.”
I swallow. “In a bad way?”
“No.” His jaw ticks. “In a way I’m trying not to read too much into.”
I smile, nervous and hopeful all at once. “It’s just dinner. I don’t usually invite strange men into my house.”
His smirk returns. “How do you know I’m not strange?”
I take a deep breath. “Because you don’tseemstrange to me.”
His eyes lock on mine. “No. I probably seem more like trouble.”
There’s a flutter low in my stomach. “I can handle a little trouble.”
He holds my gaze for a long moment. “Dinner sounds good.”
“Okay, good. Let’s get out of here.” I quickly pack up my things and lead him out of the café. “You can follow me.”
“Lead the way.”
I dig my cell out of my purse while Frost mounts his bike. Activating my talk-to-text option, I fire off a message to Amy.
Me: You’ll never believe what just happened.
Bestie: You finished your novel, FINALLY
Me: Ugh, quit reminding me
Bestie: So, you gonna spill or leave me in the dark
Me: Frost showed up at the coffee shop AGAIN
I back out of my space as my phone rings. Hitting the green button on the screen, I glance in the rearview mirror to make sure Frost is following me before I pull out onto the street.
“Bitch!” Amy’s voice blares in my speakers. “Tell me everything.”
I give her the play-by-play of our conversation. “Now, he’s following me home for dinner.”
“You’re gonna make your homemade sauce and meatballs?” she questions. “For a guy you just met?”
“Well, when you say it like that…” My voice trails off, and I suddenly second-guess what the hell I’m doing.
“I mean, you must really like him,” she interjects. “I can barely get you to make that for me, and we’ve been besties since we were ten.”
I laugh. “That’s because it’s time-consuming, and you always steal the leftovers.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” She pauses for a moment. “Be careful. He’s still a stranger, and you know nothing about him. This isn’t one of your stories, Hope.”
I blow out a breath. “I know that, Ames. I’ll be fine. I can’t explain it, but I feel safe with him.”
“Fine, but you’d better call me or text me to let me know you’re still alive when he leaves.”
“I will,” I promise. “Okay, got to go, pulling into the parking lot now.”
