Page 50 of Forever Mine

I’m out now, so later.

Out? With who?

I sucked in my bottom lip while I typed a reply. Calm down. It's Rita.

Oh. Good.

Jealous much?

Only a little …

I waited while he tapped out another text.

Who the heck am I kidding? I’m out-of-my-mind jealous when it comes to u.

Stand down. No need for all this drama.

He sent an emoji with an eye roll and then one with a bouquet. Work now. Talk later.

Smooches.

Seconds later, he sent me an emoji with a cascade of hearts, which made me smile.

When I raised my head, Rita was watching me with her chin propped on her chin.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.

“You’re enjoying that,” she said, spinning the straw in her drink.

“You mean talking with Scott? Yeah.” Sitting back, I asked, “Something wrong with that?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. I love to see you having some fun. It’s been too long.”

Laying the phone down, I sighed. “I agree. This thing with Scott has been … interesting.”

“D’you see yourself with him long term?” She sat back to give the waiter room to place two platters on the table, cuing me to wait with one finger raised in the air.

“Thanks,” we said at the same time.

“Enjoy your food.” The young man said with a smile and walked away.

My eyes met Rita’s, and she prompted me. “Well?”

I picked up a meatball with a toothpick, dipped it in the barbeque-jerk sauce and slid it into my mouth. I savored the spicy and sweet flavors of the combined sauce and seasoning. Halfway through the second meatball, I shared my thoughts with her. “Yeah, I could, but everything has happened so fast. I need time to figure out where to take this. The whole Jamaica/Miami thing makes me doubt I wanna go down that road but…” I ate another meatball as my mind took off in several directions.

“But what?” Rita said, staring intently at me.

“I like him a lot. Much more than is wise, given our situation.”

“I think you may be much further along than you realize.”

Wrinkling my brows, I asked, “Why d’you say that?”

“You seemed so happy texting with him.” Rita patted my hand and showed me a smile bright enough to rival the sun. “Matter of fact, you look like a woman in love.”

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