“I’ll meet you over there,” Lucy said.
Three
Afewofherfriends would balk at the idea of asking a guy out, but Lucy never had. If she wanted to know a guy better, she threw out a low-key invitation. Though coffee had been her idea, Jeremy paid for her dirty chai latte. He ordered an iced Americano and laughed when she grimaced at it.
“Isn’t that just literally espresso and water?”
“Yep,” he said. “I don’t wreck it with sweet stuff.”
“What a sad life you lead,” Lucy said, and he laughed again. “So hey, if we have the same major, how have we never met before?”
His hesitation was brief, covered with a shrug. “This is my first semester on campus. I’ve been studying remotely.”
“Oh? Are you commuting now?”
He nodded.
“Long drive?”
“About half an hour. I’m in Harmony Ridge.”
She refrained from clapping her hands. He lived in the most adorable small town in all Tennessee. Not that Lucy had visited every small town in the state, but she didn’t have to. Harmony Ridge was her favorite.
“My grandparents live there,” she said. “You must know them, Charlie and Jenny Campbell.”
“Oh yeah, I think my mom and dad go to church with them.”
To his credit he did not turn the question back on her. She’d met him less than an hour ago; she wasn’t about to tell him where she lived, not even the town. Nerves threatened as quiet settled, as Jeremy sipped his Americano and let her sip her latte.
When he looked up, the blue depth of his eyes caught her all over again. “So, interior decorating, huh? Have a specialty?”
“Two, actually. Color and texture.”
At his invitation she launched into a detailed description of her passions. He nodded, asked real questions, convinced her with that honest gaze of his that she actually wasn’t boring him. Then she grilled him back about commercial web design, which mattered to him the way a beautiful, inviting, space-savvy living room or bedroom mattered to her.
“We kind of want to do the same thing,” Jeremy said. “Except you want to design physical spaces and I want to design virtual spaces.”
She loved that.
No, wait. She liked that.
They never stopped talking. And it was just the nicest thing…theytalked.
She didn’t spend the night listening to a list of his talents and accomplishments and opinions. But he wasn’t evasive about himself either. If she asked a question, he answered it.
“Only child,” he said when she asked about siblings.
“Oh, me too. How about your folks?”
“We’re amicable.”
She cocked her head. “That’s an interesting word.”
“Yeah, it’s complicated. One thing I’d rather not get into tonight.”
“Very fair.”
“You sound like a native, or in other words you sound like me.” His mouth curved. His very appealing mouth. “Have you lived anywhere else or traveled much?”
