Page 28 of Dark Rover's Luck

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Jasmine said, her warm smile revealing perfect teeth. "Max has told me a lot about you."

"Good things, I hope."

Jasmine laughed. "You know Max. He's almost as sharp-tongued as Fenella."

"Ouch." Din winced. "Now I hope that he didn't paint me in too gloomy colors."

"He didn't." Jasmine cast him a charming smile. "I should leave you two alone to catch up on old times. It was lovely to meet you, Din. I hope your stay in the village is long and fruitful."

There was something in her tone, a slight emphasis on the last word, that made Din wonder what she meant, but before he could ponder it further, she was turning to Fenella.

"Call me later?" she asked.

Fenella nodded, and the two women exchanged a look that seemed to contain an entire private conversation.

"Good luck," Jasmine added with a smile that encompassed them both, and then she was gone, weaving through the tables with a graceful sway of her hips.

Din had been worried that Jasmine might stay, creating a buffer between him and Fenella during their first so-called date. While he understood Fenella might not want to be alone with him after everything she'd been through, it would have been disappointing to have a chaperone in the very public setting of the café.

"Shall we sit?" He pulled out a chair for her.

"Yes. Definitely." She sat down and adjusted her sundress with a casual flick of her wrist.

"What would you like?" he asked. "We should order quickly before the place closes."

"A cappuccino would be nice." Her eyes drifted to the display case. "And one of those almond croissants."

"Coming right up." He walked up to the counter and placed the order for two cappuccinos and two almond croissants.

The truth was that he could have waited for the waitress to approach their table, but he needed a few moments to collect himself after the shock of seeing Fenella again.

She was even more breathtaking than he remembered. The years had added character to her beauty, but there was a certain wariness in her gaze that hadn't been there before. She carried herself differently too, with the watchful readiness of someone who had learned the hard way to always be prepared for trouble.

It made his heart ache to think of what she must have endured.

He returned to the table with their cappuccinos and pastries, setting Fenella's down in front of her.

She broke off a corner of her croissant. "So, you're a professor now? Of archaeology?"

Din nodded, wrapping his hands around the warm cappuccino cup. "At the University of Edinburgh. I fell into it by accident, to be honest. I started with night classes to pass the time, and then I discovered that I had a knack for it."

Fenella studied him. "I can picture you hunched over ancient relics, piecing together forgotten histories."

"You make it sound more romantic than it is." Din chuckled. "Most of my time is spent grading mediocre papers and attending dull faculty meetings."

"Still, it somehow suits you." She took a sip of her cappuccino, leaving a small foam mustache that she quickly wiped away with her napkin. "Teaching is better than tending bar, I imagine."

"I'm not sure. It depends on your character. You always enjoyed being around people. I didn't. Frankly, I'm surprised at myself at choosing to teach. I thought I would be spending my days in dusty digs."

"Why don't you?"

He shrugged. "Sometimes the Fates lead you somewhere you never intended to go, but you discover that they were right."

Her eyes darted away, her fingers fidgeting with the handle of her cup. "I barely remember my bartending days," she admitted. "They seem like they happened to someone else."

"In a way, they did," Din said. "You were a different person back then."

"I was just a girl," Fenella agreed. "Naive. Sheltered, despite thinking I was so worldly and wise."

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