On the other hand, this dinner would be shared with Ross. This was a beautiful man with desirable and kissable lips, not to mention some sexy forearms. A guy who worried about her getting hypothermia, and accepted her for who she was, nerd-girl and all. So, yes, it was dinner but, at some point, there would be the timeafterdinner. A time when there wouldn’t be the single focus of bringing a fork to her mouth. And maybe she’d become preoccupied with other things that could be brought to her mouth.Mia, you in danger, girl,said her internal voice. Yes, yes, she was. Because Ross drove her wild with distractions, and she didn’t even care anymore.
Mia had already submitted her applications, turning her life into a long waiting game. She could have her distractions if she wanted, and she didn’t want to waste time thinking about where she might have to go next. New York, Washington, DC, Texas, Virginia. It didn’t matter. Until she got accepted somewhere, Mia had to squeeze in whatever she could.
The next morning, she was still going back and forth in her mind, attempting to dissect all the possible outcomes like it was a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book: romance edition. As though she’d be able to look ahead in the pages and see what fate she could expect before committing to a decision.
“You’re getting that far-away look in your eyes again, M,” Natalie said.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Fine.”
Natalie gave her a funny look before laughing. “Okay, well, now I know there’s something going on.”
Mia blushed. But she craved someone to confide in and Natalie was the closest thing she had to a girlfriend these days. She leaned near her manager. “Ross asked me to dinner.”
“Who?”
“The jewelry guy.”
“Ooh. Tell me and tell me now.” Natalie bit her bottom lip while wiggling her eyebrows. “I think it’s time for you to get yourself some dinnerandsome dessert.”
“Natalie!” Mia offered an apologetic glance to the customer as she handed over the drink she had made. “I- I haven’t answered yet.”
“Andwhythe hell not? You guys clearly like each other.”
“Well, I’m leaving eventually. I’m not sure there’s a point.”
“So he doesn’t know you’re leaving?”
“No, he knows.”
Natalie shrugged. “Then the point is sometimes you both need dessert. If you don’t live when you’re young, when are you going to live?”
It was at this moment, Ross pushed through the door with his kissable lips, flushed cheeks, and wind-tousled hair courtesy of the crisp blustery weather outside the shop. When his intense, black eyes made contact with her, Mia dropped the creamer container on the counter. It splashed in her face, leaving white dots of residue on the lenses of her glasses.Ugh.Real smooth.
It was a good thing an extra-friendly Natalie took Ross’s order because Mia had enough trouble acting like a person with functioning hands. Could Mia be satisfied if it was a single night? She slid a glance at him as she prepared his Americano. There was no doubt in her mind that dessert with him would satisfy all her sweet-tooth cravings.
Mia popped the lid on his cup, turned, and she found him standing at the counter. This had the immediate effect of throwing everything off-balance. His gaze remained steady, waiting, and she swallowed hard, her movements stiff and awkward as she placed his coffee on the counter.
“Yes,” she managed to squeak out. Ross took the cup without a word and walked away.
Natalie gave Mia’s arm a light pinch. “Hey, M. Make sure you don’t fill up on dinner. Dessert is the most important meal of the night.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ross was surprised.And it wasn’t because Mia said yes. She could have done so for any number of reasons. Maybe it was a late bloomer’s rebellion against dad. Or she was bored. Perhaps she genuinely liked him. There was a part of him that didn’t care what the reasoning was. When there was a strong possibility Mia would reject him, he found himself hoping she wouldn’t. The surprising part was how much his heart buoyed due to her single-word response.
But now he had to scramble to plan an actual dinner. Feeling frustrated at his brain’s lack of help and creativity, he settled on Victor’s favorite dish: paella. It had been a long time since Ross made it, but the more he thought about it, the more excited he grew. He told Aanya he was leaving the shop, and he’d like her to close.
“Is everything okay?” Aanya asked, clearly thrown off by his announcement. Her reaction wasn’t surprising since Ross was always there until closing and sometimes even after.
“Yeah. I need to go to the vet to refill Hermes’s prescription, and then I just have some plans later.”
She gave him a sly smile. “Oh, good. I hope it’s something fun, like plans with…a friend?”
“Something like that,” Ross said as he scooped the dog from his bed.
With a twinkle in her eye, Aanya returned to cleaning the glass display cases and humming a light, pleasant tune. He didn’t find her humming annoying this time, possibly because he wasn’t hanging around.
Leaving the store during work hours gave him the most unnatural feeling in the world. It was as though he was a vampire discovering he could walk around in the daylight without being singed by the sun’s rays. He brushed the feeling aside and proceeded with his errands.
