Page 10 of Love at a 7-Eleven

"The Crusades," she said without hesitation. "It's scary, crazy, and interesting. There's a university in London where I could get my masters in Crusader Studies. I've been over there and thought about it."

"What's stopping you?" he asked.

She shrugged as she absentmindedly stirred her coffee. Both of them stayed standing up in the kitchen area. Caleb enjoyed being next to this woman. He was hyper-aware of her physically. He wanted to inch closer and let his arm brush hers. It was not at all normal for him to have these types of thoughts and urges. For goodness sake, he liked the way she smelled. He had been aware of women smelling nice before, but this one had a certain aroma about her. She was also a bit timid, which was not the case at the gas station. Caleb felt compelled to continue talking with her. He wanted to know her more. He never found himself fighting attraction while he was talking to a woman, but Lila was… she was… different. It was better when he looked away.

"I don't think I'll do grad school. And even if I did, I would still want to be a party… I really enjoy party planning. But I'm just starting out."

"Was your meeting that was here about party planning?"

"It was. I was talking to Bob about doing the players' welcome party."

"And?"

"Maybe next year," she said. She gave him a shy smile.

He could tell that he had hit a nerve.

"What kind of parties do you plan?"

"Anything but weddings. And even weddings, if they're small. I've only done things non-professionally, but I like it and I feel capable of handling a paid job. I love birthday parties."

"Are you planning on working with a company or on your own?"

"I'd like to do it on my own. We'll see."

Caleb had the urge to flirt with this woman. He wanted to invite her to dinner, and he had to work to hold in a grin at the unlikeliness of these feelings.

"Do you have a business card? I could probably take your number. Uh, you know, just for party planning. Not that I'm asking for your number."

What was he doing? What was he even saying?He tried not to cringe outwardly at himself.

"Oh, sure, I'd love to give you my card." She crossed to the table where she had left her bag. She set the coffee on the table and began digging in her things. "A girl can dream, right?" she said, smiling as she fished in her wallet. She handed him her business card when she finally found it. It was a nice card with a simplistic design. He didn't take the time to look at the name. He slid it into his back pocket.

"What do you mean when you said a girl can dream?"

She gave him a sideways smirk. "Oh, nothing. I was just being silly about you asking me for my number." She was smiling and casual, and his heart that was pounding. "I shouldn't have said that," she said looking regretful. "I don't even know you. You might be married."

"No, I’m not. I—"

"I see Lila kept you company."

Bob's voice cut into the tension that had formed in their gazes. It was like a shot to the gut, and Caleb did his best to hold his expression in a neutral position and not make a disappointed reaction. He turned and smiled at Bob.

"She did," Caleb said. "We're fast friends."

"Well, I'm fast too," Bob said. "I just handled an ordeal that I thought was going to take days." He smiled and shook his head. As he approached Caleb with his hand out like he was going to shake it. There was a pause in the conversation while they greeted each other, and Lila spoke up.

"I'm heading out," she said. "It was nice seeing you," she said, smiling at Bob before shifting her gaze back to Caleb. "And nice meeting you, Caleb."

"You too," he agreed, glancing at her.

Caleb could do nothing besides watch her walk out. The bottle of juice got stashed discreetly in her bag, and just like that, she had her bag on her shoulder. It was only a matter of seconds before they had parted ways completely.

Caleb would have been upset about it if he didn't have a way to get in touch with her. But he had her card in his pocket, and thank goodness for that. He went on with his day, focusing on other things and feeling quite certain that he would call this woman named Lila.

His thoughts went back to her all afternoon, but he was busy with his work in the Bears' locker room. A couple of the new guys knew of Caleb's online presence and wanted to meet him. It was a full afternoon, and that evening he went to dinner with Marcus and his family and rehashed the day's events with them. Caleb was good at connecting with people. Marcus's kids loved him and they asked him constantly to do different impressions which they thought were hilarious.

Caleb was with them for a couple of hours, and, though he was present with Marcus's family, his thoughts kept drifting to Lila. He didn't touch her card, and he didn't bring her up. It was not like him to ask about a woman. He had a history of not being with women, and it would take Marcus and his family by surprise for him to talk about someone. But she kept coming to his mind, and after a while, he simply couldn't stop himself from mentioning her. They were playing video games on the couch, and there had been some silence. "I met a party planner today in the lounge," he said. "Just before I went back to the locker room."

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