“Maybe that’s what he’s saving his tips for,” Julian agreed, giving the kid a jaunty wave as he followed Petula out the door. He got two thumbs up in response that luckily Petula didn’t see.
And now that the bug was in his ear regarding the barista, he’d have to speak to his cop brothers to see if they could help the kid out in any way.
“About meeting up again?” he asked as he walked her to her car. It was his second attempt at seeing if she’d agree to meet with him again, and if she put him off now, he wouldn’t push. As much as it would hurt.
Color, instead, moved up in her gorgeous face. “Well, tomorrowisSaturday… Do you, umm, know the Moose and Muffin in Bangor?”
“I do.” Julian could barely refrain from doing a happy dance. “I’ve never been though.”
“You’ll like it,” she assured him. “We could meet there. Say at…nine?” She quickly explained. “I like to sleep in on the weekends. My brother says I’m a person who could hibernate under the covers all day if given the chance, and he’s not wrong.”
She hit the unlock button on her key-fob and chuckled; the two sounds officially ending their first date. And yes, Julian was calling this a date, simply because it was the most one-on-one time he’d spent with a woman other than his relatives, in a very long time.
“That’s understandable,” Julian told her, ignoring the happy flutter in his chest when thinking about her in bed, “considering how much ground you cover each week, you must be exhausted half the time. I think nine o’clock sounds perfect.”
Hell, she could have said any time at all, and he would have happily agreed.
He didn’t tell her thathe’dbe up at five, as was his norm.
Being in the military for such a long time, it was hard to break the early rising habit. Still, the later meet-time would give him a chance to go for a run, then shower.
Julian scooted around Petula where they stood on the sidewalk, and opened her car door. Her eyes grew wide.
“I… I don’t think anyone has ever done that for me before,” she marveled. “I thought it was something you only saw on television, or read about in books.”
“Nope. Real life here,” Julian quipped. “You should stick around and see what else I’m good at.”
When she went all “deer-in-the-headlights” at that, Julian realized how it must have sounded, and he swiftly amended.
“I mean, we Sothards were brought up with impeccable manners,” he scrambled. “And you’ll see all kinds of gentlemanly things from me.”
“Uh, okay.”
He wasn’t sure if he’d put her fears to rest, whatever they were, but she slipped around him and got into her car, no longer able to meet his eyes.
Shit.Had he blown it?
“Tomorrow, then?” he asked. He needed to make sure she wasn’t going to ghost him.
Petula was proving to be a difficult ball of twine to unravel, but given time, Julian knew she’d be well worth it.
There was only a second’s hesitation before her lips tipped up and she agreed. “Okay. Tomorrow.”
She tugged her door closed, started her engine, and pulled away.
Julian drew in a ragged but relieved breath as he watched her ease into light traffic.
It was going to be a long, twenty-five hours.
Julian was whistlingas he walked into Diver Downeast, noting that the place was extremely busy.Good.As it should be. It was a Friday, after all, and the weather was just about to break. That meant that recreational divers who were already certified were picking up new or improved equipment, getting ready to enjoy the waters, and that Diver Downeast was nearing the date for their very first class.
It was pretty exciting being part of such a successful start-up.
Spencer, who was sitting at the desk going over some paperwork with Sheila, immediately caught Julian’s eye.
“A good date?” he questioned with a smirk.
Sheila hit Spence’s hand with her pencil and frowned. “It’s not nice to ask that. Not nice. That’s Julian’s business. Not our business. Julian’s business. It’s not nice to ask.”
