Aidan sat in the rented SUV outside of the small, one-story building, ringed by those spiky, palmetto-tree looking bushes.

What were those called anyway? It was funny that he’d been to Florida at least a dozen times and he still didn’t know. In fact, the things could have been growing on his own street in Malibu—and maybe they were—and he wouldn’t have remembered. Plants and trees were just something he’d never given much thought to.

Until that day, when he sat outside the Florida Keys Conservation office, desperately working on talking himself into going inside.

It hadn’t been hard to find the place Nicole was interning at. Not in such a small town as Haven Sound. It hadn’t been hard to find time to drive over there either, with the shoot being paused that day due to some kind of issue with the cameras.

What was difficult was getting out of the SUV. Opening the door. Putting the first foot on the asphalt.

Aidan couldn’t recognize himself. He was used to being the center of attention and handling all kind of social interaction with ease, from joking with popular TV hosts on late night talk shows to attending movie premiers with the most beautiful Hollywood actresses. But there was something about Nicole that relaxed him and, at the same time, tied him up in knots.

He’d asked out plenty of women before—and had never been turned down—but Nicole was different. While all the other women had been fawning over Aidan, clawing at each other to get to him, Nicole acted like she just didn’t care. She hadn’t even batted an eye when he mentioned he used to be in tennis. She had no idea who he was.

He’d already been unable to get her off his mind. And running into her on the beach had seemed like fate. She left him staring after her for the second time in two days. He couldn’t help it, though. He had to see her again. It was the mix of fire and innocence that he saw in Nicole’s beautiful hazel eyes that drew him in, that made him want to know every last little thing about her.

He finally stepped out of the SUV. He walked into the building and stopped in front of a low desk.

“Can I help you?” a receptionist asked, turning away from her computer and looking to him.

“Yeah. Is Nicole in?”

“Nicole?” she repeated as Aidan caught sight of the girl he was looking for.

She was coming out of a hallway at the other end of the large front room that held desks and filing cabinets. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a loose bun, the untrimmed bangs falling every which way. She carried a folder and waved her hand around as she talked with a gray-haired man.

Aidan’s breath hitched in his throat and before he could say ‘there she is,’ Nicole looked over, her eyes going wide.

“Thanks.” He lightly tapped the desk, not even looking at the receptionist as he strode over to Nicole.

“Aidan,” she breathed as he neared. The gray-haired man had stepped away, leaving them all alone, but Nicole still looked around as if they were in danger of being caught doing something wrong.

“Surprised?” He held his hands up before she could respond. “Wait. Don’t answer that. I know it’s kind of a bold move, showing up here like this.”

Nicole’s cheeks turned pink and she clutched her folder to her chest like it was a lifeline, all the while shifting her weight from foot to foot and glancing around the room.

“But I had to see you.” He stepped a little closer and her eyebrows shot up. At the same time, though, her pupils started dilating and her breathing sped up.

Aidan knew enough about body language to get the basic gist of what was going on. He’d been right. She was as into him as he was into her.

“Dinner,” he said simply, staring into her eyes. “Once.”

She immediately shook her head. “I already told you, I don’t think that’s a good idea—”

“Why?” he cut in.

“Many reasons.”

“Give me one.”

“We live in different states.”

“True,” he nodded emphatically. “Fair enough. But here’s the thing. I’m kind of at a—crossroads. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in California for. Maybe I’ll move next month, or maybe I’ll be there my whole life. I don’t know. For all I know, I could end up living in New York. Maybe even on your block.”

Nicole squinted her eyes in confusion. “Okay. That’s a little creepy.”

“Sorry. Forget I said that. It was weird. What I’m saying is, maybe you’ll move there. To Los Angeles. Who knows what could happen.”

She guffawed. “I’m not moving to California.”

Aidan pushed his fingers through his hair and smirked. “Okay. Backtrack. It’s kind of early to be talking about our future plans. Especially considering we haven’t had a first date yet. Don’t you think?”

She chuckled. “Are you always so self-confident?”

He stepped closer and whispered into her ear, “It’s all a façade. It took me 20 minutes to gather up courage to get out of the car and walk into this building.” Even though his tone was playful, Aidan was telling the truth.

Her lips split into a wide grin. But a second later a couple employees walked by and, in the blink of an eye, she clammed right up, dropping her face and shaking her head. “You should go,” she said in a low voice. “I’m at work. And… people are watching.”

Aidan glanced around, finding she was right. The receptionist had turned around in her seat to flat-out stare at them and the few other people in the room shot quick glances their way.

“Okay,” Aidan conceded. “I’ll go. But I’m not done here. I’ll be in town all week.”

“Yeah,” she retorted, “And then you’ll be gone.”

He wanted to tell her that didn’t matter, but he stopped himself. She was right, after all. He would be gone soon. Still, that didn’t mean that what he sensed between them wasn’t worth pursuing. What was distance, anyway? Especially when you could rent a private jet anytime you felt like it?

He couldn’t tell her any of this, though, without making it sound like he was boasting.

“If you change your mind, call me.”

He plucked a thick marker from a pencil holder on a nearby desk and reached for Nicole’s arm. She didn’t resist, and, in fact, he felt her wrist’s pulse speed up. Carefully writing his number on her forearm, he grudgingly let her go.

“Or text,” he added.

“Goodbye, Aidan.”

“Bye, Nicole.” He took a few steps back. “For now.”

Turning, he strode across the room, not caring that a whole office had just seen the exchange. At the front door, the receptionist pressed her hands against her heart and gave him an approving nod.

Aidan didn’t look back, but the tingle on his neck told him Nicole watched him. Smiling to himself, he pushed open the front door. She might have gotten the final say their first two meetings, but he knew he’d just made a major advance.

Even if he hadn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered. The last year had been one of endless searching, of waiting to see what would happen and what would cause him to finally feel like he’d found his place in the world. After months of that, as luck would have it, he’d finally located something—no, someone—who made him feel alive in a way he hadn’t in years.

Maybe it was that Nicole was new. Or that she was so resistant. Or maybe it was a deeper, stronger connection that he was seeing while she was refusing to. Aidan didn’t know. But he wasn’t giving up on her until he found the truth.