Page 156 of The Moment You Know

“You know we’re bowling in the dark, right?”

“I know. That’s why I really don’t need my hair in my eyes. You might want to put yours up, too, since you need all the help you can get.”

Paige narrowed her eyes at the insult; he seemed to have a never ending supply tonight. Then, before she could fire back, he said, “Let’s bowl.”

“Let’s bowl,” she repeated. “You’re up first, Damon.”

Eyebrows drawing together, David glanced at the console screen, to where she’d listed him as ‘Damon’. “Seriously?”

With an exaggeratedly sweet smile, she nodded, before chirping, “Let’s see what you got.”

Clearly not intimidated, he grabbed his ball and with textbook bowler form, proceeded to bowl a perfect strike.

What an asshole. Paige got up to get her ball and take her turn, and as they were passing each other, he chirped back, “Let’s see what you got.”

Since she’d never bowled a strike in her life, she didn’t think bowling one now was going to happen without divine intervention (and God was probably too busy for that). However, ending her first frame with two gutter balls wasn’t what she thought was going to happen, either, but it did.

As did her second frame. And her third. And her fourth.

David, in the meantime, had no such issues.

When it was time for her fifth frame, Paige picked up her ball and then set it back down. She honestly didn’t think it was the ball’s fault it kept ending up in the gutter, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to get a different one, either, so she turned and headed over to the ball racks to do just that.

“Where are you going?” he called after her.

“To get a different ball.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like the one you picked out for me.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It won’t stay out of the gutter.”

“I think that’s because you keep putting it there,” he said, then added, “You can put up the bumpers, if you want.”

Turning her back on him and the smirk on his face, she looked over the balls before picking up the bright pink one she’d originally wanted and returned to their lane. Then, very conscious that he was watching her—and probably still smirking—Paige stuck her fingers in the holes, lifted the ball, took several steps forward, pulled her arm back, propelled it forward, and watched the ball go into …

The. Motherfucking. Gutter.

She stood there in utter disbelief for several moments. Then, above the overhead music and the crashing of pins in nearby lanes, she heard it: the unmistakable sound of slow, deliberate clapping coming from behind her.

Chapter 61

By the time Paige and David left the bowling alley it was 10 p.m. He drove her home, then escorted her up to her apartment, making the evening feel even more like a date.

Unfortunately.

As she unlocked her door, Paige had to fight her disappointment that the evening was over. Why couldn’t any of her dates in the past few months have been like this? Why did her best date have to be with her ex-husband?

“This was the best divorce anniversary I’ve ever had,” she told him. “Thank you.”

He drew her in for a full hug, which seemed to be becoming a habit (not that she was complaining). After what seemed like a long time, he pulled back enough to say, “Me, too. And you’re welcome.”

He then dipped his head and without thinking, pressed a quick, friendly kiss to her lips.

It lasted approximately one second, but in that one second all the oxygen seemed to get sucked out of the hallway, leaving them blinking at one another in surprise.

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