Page 3 of Return to Me Always

"Well, thanks for getting the door for me," I said while ducking out. "Have a good day."

"Wait."

My breath caught again as I turned to face him, my eyes exploring his incredibly handsome features.

He paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Aye, you too."

Before I could say anything else, he went inside, and disappointment pulsed through me. Why couldn't I say anything to him? Why couldn't I try to flirt with him a little or something?

Because that was just not me. I had never pursued a guy before or put myself out there like that. And I definitely couldn't start with this dream man that had completely rocked my existence.

I stood outside the door, leaning against the wall, trying to catch my breath, while wondering what to do. Should I go in and attempt to talk to him? Or should I just let it go and see what fate had to say? If we were meant to be together in some way, wouldn't fate make it happen?

Just then, fate made its will known. Dream guy walked out of the coffee shop, holding hands with the prettiest girl I had ever seen.

My heart plummeted. A million thoughts crashed into my head. Relief that I hadn't said anything to him. Disbelief that he was taken. Annoyed that she was so beautiful. And complete agony that fate could be so wrong.

I wanted to just crumple down and sit against this wall that was currently holding me up.

"You okay, love?"

Startled, I looked up to see a tall guy staring at me.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine. Thanks."

"You look like you just lost your best friend," he said with his crisp British accent.

My eyes welled up at that.Get a grip, Kat!

"Terribly sorry." His mouth turned down in a frown. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"No, no, no. I'm fine, really." I took a deep breath and tried to squash down all my swirling emotions. "Just super tired."

After a beat, he said, "Hey, can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

I hesitated, unsure if I wanted to spend time with some strange guy who kind of gave me an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Don't mean to be pushy," he assured me. "Just seemed like you could use a friend right now."

Deciding to ignore my uneasy feeling, I said, "Okay. Sure."

I supposed there was no harm in going into a public coffee shop with him, and he was definitely nice to look at. Not that that meant anything really. Serial killers could be extremely good-looking too, right?

Ushering me inside, he pointed to an empty table nearby. "Why don't you have a seat, and I'll get our drinks. What would you like?"

"A hot chocolate would be great. Thank you."

Maybe another drink would help. Ireallywanted to drown my sorrows in a huge, fudgy brownie but didn't want to pig out in front of this new guy. I reached for some money, but he held out his hand to stop me.

"No worries. It's on me."

"Thanks," I said as I headed for one of the chairs.

While he ordered, I studied him some more. He was actually similar to dream man in some ways—tall and strong—but with lighter hair. And while dream guy had those piercing blue eyes, this guy had dark eyes.

"Here you go," he said a moment later, holding out my hot chocolate.

"Thanks again."

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