“Fancy running into you again.” Another crooked grin sneaks out, and I huff out a snort while he slides into the seat next to mine.
“Are you sure about that?” I tease. “For all we know, I’m actually the bane of your existence, and you just don’t know it yet.”
“Unless you’re the reason why my laptop got dropkicked,” he deadpans, and my brows crash together in confusion, “then no. You’re not the bane of my existence.” When he sees the expression overtaking my face, he lets out a wry chuckle. “Some kid on my last flight broke my laptop. Shattered the screen and everything.”
“Oh,no,” I gasp. “I’m so sorry. And I thought I had it bad today—The guy on my last flight kept telling methey’rewatching me through my webcam. Whatever that means.”
“Christ,” he mutters.
“I know.” I lean back and stare ahead. “It’s fine, though. I won’t have to deal with that again.”
“Are you sure about that?” he echoes. “What if I’m about to tell you they’re?—”
“Donotfinish that sentence,” I warn him, and I’m struggling to keep a straight face while he holds my gaze with amusement gleaming in his dark eyes. “Don’t.”
“I won’t,” he says, and it’s right then that I notice there’s a scar on his cheekbone—a faint line across the smooth, taut, golden brown skin. “Promise.”
“I don’t know if I can believe you.” A playful smile curves the corners of my lips. “How can I trust the words of a stranger?”
“I can easily remedy that,” he says with a casual shrug. “Should I give you my full government name? The street I grew up on? The last four digits of my social security number?”
“Just the last four?” I tsk. “You’re not going to give me the whole thing?” My words come out a little bit more breathy than intended, and I’m not sure if I should back off with the flirting when the laughter lines make a reappearance around his eyes.
Without warning, he leans in, and my breath catches in my throat when his lips come oh so close to the tip of my ear; his voice rough and low as he whispers, “Not until the third date.”
There’s a brief pause before we both erupt into laughter, and I slap my hand across my nose and mouth to stop the giggle-snort that threatens to escape me. It’s no use. I giggle-snort so hard, I’m smothering my face with both hands to muffle the ungodly noise.
“That. Was. So. Lame.”
“I’m not the one—” He exaggerates a series of loud snorting sounds, snickering when I elbow him gently in the ribs.
“Good luck getting a third date,” I tell him, and his dimples return. “I doubt you’ll even be able to get a second date.”
His grin widens, and God, I truly am a goner for nice smiles. “What if I promise not to talk aboutthem watching?—”
“Are you trying to negotiate dates with me? Is this where I find out you’re a lawyer?”
“No, I’m not a lawyer,” he says. “Are you a lawyer?”
“Nope,” I say cheerfully. “But my future brother-in-law is. I’m only a—” I hesitate, my words lingering on my tongue as I catch his gaze. I don’t want to blame thethey’re always watching youguy for freaking me out, but I’m still on edge. The last thing I need is to give the guy way too much personal information about myself and he turns out to be wayworse.
“You’re a…” he prompts, and I spare him a breezy half-smile.
“Trust me, you’ll be bored to hear what my actual job is,” I say, and it’s not like I’m wrong.
Project leadis such a boring job. I’ve already witnessed dozens of eyes glaze over when I’ve tried to explain what my day-to-day operation is like. Trust me, I too become bored when I talk about it.
But if I’m vague and say I work in insurance, suddenly people ask me for discounts even though I don’t work on the retail side. And if I mention I’m employed at Green Checks—infamously known as Grinch Cheeks for how ass their products and coverages are—suddenly I’m Sellout Barbie or Capitalist Barbie.
“How about we pretend we’re crushing it at our dream jobs?”
“Supermodel?”
I snort so loud that I clap my hand over my mouth and roll my eyes at him. “No. Marine biologist.”
“What made you decide to become a marine biologist?” he asks, and I’m grateful he’s playing along with me.
“Penguins,” I say. “And otters. My second grade class took a field trip to the aquarium, and let’s just say I was the only one who gotallthe aquatic animals eating out of my hand.”
