"Could be," he shrugged. "Or maybe the unicorns are just that good at staying out of sight. If someone is messing with us, they're a ghost." Wade glanced at his watch. "Been checking every lead on the horn black market too. Nothing solid yet."
"Researching unicorn horns?"
"Yeah, their uses. Figuring out who'd want them badly could help." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking uneasy. "I gotta head out.”
He shot Beth an uneasy look, then moved closer to me and lowered his voice. "Oh, uh, by the way, you know what kind of food Beth's into? Anything she particularly likes?"
"French," I replied with a quick nod.
"French,” he repeated, with a smile. "Perfect. I can do that.”
I hesitated, but then pressed on. "Yeah, taking her out to a French restaurant would be perfect. And afterwards, well, she loves a sweet finish to her meal."
"Sweet finish?” He looked confused.
I nodded, trying not to grin. "You know, only something you could give her to sweeten up her night?”
His eyes widened, and a blush darkened his cheeks. "Oh, a sweet finish!"
I winked, unable to resist a little tease. "Exactly."
"Got it. The thing is, I’ve wanted to… share something sweet with her, but I didn’t want to rush her into... dessert." He looked away for a second. "I can be patient when I know I’ve got the right dessert, especially knowing it’s one that scares easily. What are days or months when I’ll have a lifetime with that dessert eventually."
"I understand that." I chuckled. Their romance was freaking sweet. "But I think she might be ready for dessert.”
"You don’t say.” He was beaming.
But then another thought occurred to me, and I decided it’d be best to clarify, so I didn’t make things worse. "Also, Beth’s not the type who is looking to devour a whole dessert already. Might appreciate just a taste, you know? Just a sample, if you will."
"Right, just a... sample of what's to come." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking flustered.
"Exactly, but not the whole slice of cake at once. That very well could be too much… sugar for her so fast." My phone buzzed in my pocket, signaling it was time to go.
Beth was being impatient.
Wade's face turned the color of a ripe tomato as heat creeped up my own cheeks.
"Look at us, all mature," I said, wavering between a laugh and a cough.
"Right, just a couple of adults talking pastries," he managed, his smile twitching as if it didn't know which way to go.
I glanced down at my phone, then back at Beth in the car who gives us a friendly wave. "I should get going. Beth's waiting."
Wade waved back with a nervous smile. "Of course." He took a step back but tripped slightly over a small rock behind him. He caught himself, arms flailing in a brief, comical dance for balance.
"Smooth," I teased.
"Always," Wade replied with an exaggerated nod, trying to reclaim some semblance of dignity.
We shared a look, a silent agreement that this conversation was one for the books—or at least one we'd both pretend to forget by tomorrow.
"See you around, Wade."
"Watch out for unicorns."
"Or dessert lovers," I called over my shoulder without turning back.
The last thing I heard was his quiet laughter mingling with the soft morning breeze.
