Three Weeks Earlier

I gave up on finding love long ago, so I certainly didn’t expect to stumble over it twice on the same night. Nor did I expect to decide the rest of my life based on the random message tucked inside of a stale fortune cookie. Funny how life works sometimes.

“Are you gonna finish that?” Delayne poked her chopsticks into my shrimp fried rice. I resisted the urge to point out how gross that was, but I’d never hear the end of it if I did. What I called cleanliness she called compulsion, but not in such polite words.

I shook my head and stood, dropping my napkin on the coffee table. “Nope, help yourself. I’ve got to go get ready.”

“Wait, you forgot your fortune… maybe it will give you a clue about your date.” She tossed the plastic-wrapped confection my way, smiling. At least one of us was excited.

I caught the stupid thing, unwrapped the cookie and dropped the paper on the table. Rolling my eyes at the message inside, I handed it to Delayne and stalked off to get ready. She squealed and her footsteps sounded behind me. Clearly she wasn’t going to let me get ready in peace.

“Oh, this is perfect!” She caught up with me half-way down the hall and tugged on my arm. “Did you even read it? Step out of your comfort zone and you will find it, that which you did not know you desired.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. I’ve been on how many blind dates in the last year? Twelve. And not one of them was worth the first date, let alone a second one.” I tugged my arm free from my well-meaning friend and went to the bedroom to gather up my clothes for the night.

She followed me into the room, undeterred. “Do I need to pull up the motivational email I sent you earlier? You’re vibe attracts your tribe. So lose the negativity or all you’ll ever find are slimy toads. Tonight you’re going to get your prince, I just know it.”

I had to hand it to Delayne, her positivity was infectious. She chattered on all the way to the bathroom, sat on the window ledge while I showered and shaved, and didn’t let up until I was coiffed, dressed and actually smiling. I won’t go as far as to say that I was excited about my mystery date, but it did feel good to get dressed up for a change.

* * *

Thinking about my safety and the weirdoes I’d been set up with in the past, I chose to meet my date in a public place. I knew his first name—Eli—and the name of the coffee shop, but that was all I knew. For a slight control freak like myself, that didn’t sit well and the next five minutes found me fidgeting and glancing around the funky little cafe like I was a paranoid schizophrenic and off my medication.

From the outside, Perk You looked like a dive bar, or a seedy sex club, and I almost turned around right then and went home. But the fortune cookie stopped me. I had to get outside of my comfort zone, right. So I’d gone inside and settled myself at a little table by the front window. From there, I had a perfect view of the entrance, which just might give me enough time to bolt if Eli was hideous or something. At least, that was the plan.

“I can always tell the poor guy to hit the bricks if you want.” A voice said from the table right next to mine.

Glancing over, I was surprised to see a rather attractive guy looking back at me. He was roughly my age, a foot taller than my five-and-a-half feet, and trim in the Olympic swimmer kind of way. Lush, dirty blond hair, casual yet expensive clothes. And a smile that could melt the polar icecaps.

“What gives you the impression that I need help getting rid of someone?” I asked.

“Well,” he took a sip of his latte. “You’ve glanced at the door a dozen times in the last two minutes. And you look like a runner. It would be a shame for a man to watch you bolt out the back door. So I thought I’d offer my assistance to help you let him down easy.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. A charmer, he was.

“That’s very kind of you. But I’m not going to bolt. I’m just a little anxious meeting someone for the first time. Too many unknowns, I guess.” I glanced back towards the door, then at the clock on my phone. In another minute, my date would be late and chalking up a strike against himself.

“Ah, I see. You’re not a runner, you’re a list-maker, a cupboard organizer, a detail miner.” He smiled easily, even if his words could be taken as an insult.

“I suppose I am. You say that like it’s a bad thing though,” I countered, standing up and fishing around for my wallet, which appeared to be lost somewhere in the recesses of my purse. I found it and walked to the edge of the counter nearby and signaled to the barista. If I was going to have to wait, I wanted a mocha to nurse while passing the time.

He spun in his chair and quirked an eyebrow my way. “Not at all. I’m a marketing guy… those descriptions could very well be on my resume.”

I placed my order and turned back to face him. I’m pretty sure his eyes had lingered on my ass while I’d been turned around. But that wasn’t necessarily bad. If it was, I wouldn’t have chosen that pencil skirt for its form-fitting design.

Once I had my drink in hand, I returned to my seat and glanced at the doorway one last time. It seemed as if I’d been stood up. Fabulous, I thought as I blew across the top of the steaming cup. If I’d waited another few minutes, I wouldn’t have an eight-dollar cup of coffee to finish and would have been half-way home by then.

I glanced up to find the stranger looking at me oddly. Right, we’d been in the middle of a conversation. I tried to figure out where we’d left off.

“So, you’re a suit then?” I tucked my hair behind my ear and leaned forward to sip my latte gingerly.

He laughed—one of those half-way between a chuckle and a giggle—and pushed his fingers back through his hair. “That’s right. You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Not at all.” I shook my head and sighed, smiling. “I’m a bean counter myself. Bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you?”

“Sure didn’t,” he said with mock seriousness. “I pegged you for an artist or a hippie. Maybe a creative writing teacher.”

If I knew the man better, I would have told him about my secret obsession with writing cheesy romance stories. Instead, I changed the subject. “So are you being stood-up as well, or do you frequent coffee shops hoping to rescue damsels in distress? In your spare time, while you’re not marketing little blue pills to geriatrics, of course.”

He clutched his chest, grinning. “Ouch. I’ll have you know that I only push respectable products these days. And I’m not being stood up. Neither are you, if I’m being honest.”

It took me a second to make the leap. “Eli?”

“And you must be Karlyn.” He stood and held out his hand.

I took it and we’d been officially introduced, albeit a half hour after the date had begun. I wasn’t sure if I should be irritated or amused. There was something about his easy demeanor, the way he carried himself and the conversation, that I found refreshing.

With the ice already broken, we lapsed into the obligatory getting-to-know-you conversation. We had a lot in common—both only children, earned a living on the basis of concrete facts and numbers, even our sense of humor was the same. Witty and slightly snarky.

I picked up my coffee cup, only to set it down again when I realized it was empty. I don’t remember drinking it—we’d talked for longer than I’d thought. I looked up at Eli and bit my lip.

He sucked in a deep breath and his eyes went wide. I licked my lips before I even realized it. The tension in the air was becoming palpable.

“Do you want to get some fresh air?” He asked, flashing his dimples. He stood and pushed his empty chair under the table.

I nodded, lifting my purse from the back of the chair. “I’d like that.”

Eli waited for me to stand, then took me by the hand and led me outside. The night was warm and a little muggy from a brief rain a few hours earlier. The street was awash in colors; blue, red, and green lights flickered and danced in the puddles. It was the perfect night for a walk and Eli seemed to think so too.

We lapsed into a comfortable silence, taking in the sights and the people parting around us in a rush, while we ambled down the sidewalk in the general direction of my apartment building. The contact of his hand on mine made me think about how much it sucked to have a roommate sometimes, not that I was seriously considering asking Eli into my home.

Oh, it’s not like I’d never had a one-night stand—the few men I’d recognized right away as Mr. Right Now’s. There was no harm in a little short-lived fun. Eli was definitely not one of those men though. He might very well be more than that, judging by the way I felt just walking down the street, my hand in his.

As we approached the outside of Sin & City, a club I’d been to a few times, the latest Ed Sheeran song drifted out into the street through the club’s open doors. I felt a slight tug on my hand and I looked up to find Eli had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

He stood with his arms extended and a grin on his face. “May I have this dance?”

“Here? Now? In the middle of the sidewalk?” I blushed and glanced at the people milling around. I hated being the center of attention, but that stupid fortune cookie popped into my head once again. Well, hell.

“Trust me, this is the perfect time and the perfect place, because I’m here with you.” He pulled me into his arms and my heart fluttered against my ribs like a bird in a too-small cage.

I fit into the shape of his body perfectly, like it was molded just for me. At once I forgot the crowds, where we were and everything else that didn’t involve my body on his. He smelled like the ocean at night, crisp and dark. But that wasn’t what did me in. It was the humming. Eli’s voice, low and silky in my ear, singing along with “The Shape of You” chorus drifting out of the club.

We weren’t even keeping up with the tempo of the actual song; it faded in the background and the only rhythm I cared about was the one of our hearts pounding inches apart. God, I’d never felt like that in my entire life. Safe, complete, magnetized. Home.

I sighed and laid my head upon his chest. I could feel the heat of his hand on my lower back and the way he moved his thumb in a circle, slowly, over my bare skin where my shirt had pushed up. If that wasn’t enough, Eli kissed my temple, pressing his warm lips against my cool skin for the space of two heartbeats. My chest felt tight and my skin tingled.

Our bodies swayed together, hypnotic, electrified.

Eli pushed me back, twirled me under his arm and pulled my body tightly to his with such a fluid grace that I had to clamp my lips shut to keep from moaning. It was on the tip of my tongue, but it needed to stay there. I certainly didn’t need him know how turned on I was. That would open a door that I wasn’t willing to walk through yet. Not with this guy and the infinite possibilities of our future.

The song ended and so with it, our dance. I looked up into Eli’s dazzling blue eyes, my lips parted and a chill ran up my spine. His soft, full lips where inches from my own, teasing me. I wanted to kiss him, more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. I froze, torn between what I wanted and wondering what he wanted.

While I was busy overthinking things, he kissed me.

That one kiss was everything and then some. Warm, soft, tender. Just the right amount of tongue and lip-nibbling. I felt woozy when he finally pulled back, a crooked grin on his face. I kept my hands on his arms, not trusting my body to stay upright.

“Wow,” I whispered, more to myself than anything.

Eli pulled me into a hug, his arms wrapped around me protectively. We swayed gently in the balmy night air. “I hate to end this,” he said, pulling back to look me in the eyes. “But if I don’t leave now, I’ll miss my plane.”

“Plane?” I noted the panic in my voice. Of course, the first guy that made my heart flip-flop in my chest and he’d be running away at warp speed. That was my kind of luck.

“Yes, I’ve got meetings in Chicago starting in the morning, but I’ll be back in a few days. Are you free on Wednesday night for dinner?”

I nodded, not trusting my own voice to conceal my relief. I chose not to analyze the fact that after one date I was already gone, and the idea of never seeing Eli again made my stomach drop and roll.

“Great, we’ll hash out the details while I’m gone.” He fished in his pocket and pulled out a business card. “My cell and email are on there.”

I took the card and dropped it into my purse. “Do you want me to… uh, email you tomorrow with my information?”

“I’d be upset if you didn’t.” He pulled me into another kiss, this one quicker, but just as boat-rocking.

Eli looked at his watch and frowned. “Talk to you tomorrow?”

I nodded and took a deep breath in. “Sure, tomorrow.”

He backed away from me with a smile and I had to force myself to release his hand. “I had a great time, really.”

“Of course you did. Rescuing damsels, dancing in the street. How could you not?” I toyed with him.

“That’s true, we set the bar pretty high tonight. Our next date better blow your socks off, or I’ll never hear the end of it.” He joked, taking another step backwards before half-turning away.

I hated to see him go, but I certainly couldn’t complain about the view. “You better believe it. I expect nothing less than Gatsby-level debauchery next time.”

He stopped and chuckled. “Keep talking nerdy to me and I’ll never get to the airport in time.”

I laughed and waved him away. “Go on, get then. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Eli tipped his head at me, turned and sprinted to hail a cab. I pulled in a deep breath to steady myself. I felt all spun-around, dazed. Even with everything we had in common and how easy the conversation had been, I did not expect to feel the way I did when I watched him leave. My stomach felt sour and my smile slipped. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.