The next day, I worked my final shift at Joe’s Java Junction. My leave of absence had ended. I needed to get back to my job at Vale Chemical. Although I enjoyed spending time with Dad and Jo, they treated me like I was ten years old instead of twenty-eight. Being around them triggered all the bad habits I’d managed to overcome by living on my own. I was no longer the chubby, borderline autistic child of the past. I had a career, a nice place to live, a bright future, and I was eager to return to my life.

On Sundays, the shop was only open from eight to noon. We hadn’t had a customer since ten o’clock, so I busied myself with polishing the counters and tabletops. At about eleven-thirty, Jo nudged my elbow and nodded to the display window. “What do you think he’s doing?”

Rhett stood on the sidewalk. Sunlight sparked in his hair, firing the red highlights. A frown marred his brow. He started to walk through the door then turned and strode away out of sight. Ten seconds later he returned. Our eyes met through the window. One corner of his mouth turned up in a sheepish grin. I waved.

“He’s a little weird, isn’t he?” I asked.

“A little, but who cares? Any guy that hot can be as weird as he wants.” Jo returned her attention to cleaning the cappuccino machine. “Don’t look now, but I think he’s coming in.”

My heart skipped a beat when the bell rang over the door, and Rhett stepped inside. The shop was empty except for us. Rhett wiped his palms over the thighs of his jeans and cleared his throat. Jo disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me alone with my crush.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hello.” I didn’t know what else to say, so I stared back at him.

“I was just passing by and saw you were open.” The tip of his tongue slid over the fullness of his lower lip. “You aren’t going to yell at me for coming here on the wrong day, are you?”

A smile stretched across my face. “Well, no. I’ll let it slide this time.” Knowing this was my last day eased some of my anxiety, allowing me to relax. “You haven’t been very good at following the rules lately.”

“I’m not sure what the rules are anymore.” His smile slipped a little. “Anyway, I’m not going to ask you out again, because honestly, I don’t think I can take the rejection. But I was hoping maybe we could be friends.”

Normal friendships had evaded me for my entire life. I’d given up on them long ago, turning to my studies and work for entertainment. Whenever I saw a group of girls heading to one of the clubs or shopping together, I felt a pang of envy. The idea of a man for a friend was so out of the realm of possibility that it had never even entered my thoughts.

“Say yes.” Jo’s voice floated out from the kitchen.

Embarrassment flooded my cheeks with heat. “Okay.” I laid the polishing rag on the counter and wiped my hands with a corner of my apron. “I guess we can.”

“Great.” Some of the tension in his shoulders ebbed away. “Maybe we could do lunch?”

“Sure. I’d like that.” The thought of spending time with him, one on one, made my insides quake. I looked up, into his eyes. They were soft, more gray than blue, and filled with uncertainty. What had happened to undermine his self-confidence? By the cut of his clothes and his body language, he was used to being in command, but today he seemed tentative. I resisted the urge to brush his hair away from his forehead, to comfort him. I understood insecurity. I’d fought with it my entire life.

“Okay. Well, I’ll let you get to work.” He backed toward the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“No,” I replied without thinking about how it sounded.

He stopped, eyebrows lifting. “No?”

“I mean, no, you won’t see me tomorrow. This is my last day here. I’m going back to my real job.” I grabbed a pen and scribbled my phone number and address on one of the shop business cards. “But we can still do lunch. Don’t call me. Send a text. Here.”

The tips of his fingers grazed mine as he took the card. A pulse of energy zipped up my arm, pebbling my skin along the way. He stared at the print and turned the card over a couple of times before sliding it into his back pocket. “Excellent,” he said, and with a nod, disappeared through the door.