Page 59 of One Sweet Match Up

“That’s my boy.” Will leaned back. “But he has a lighter side. Has he asked you out yet?”

Her heart started to race.Asked me out?She twisted her body toward him. “Why would you ask that?”

“Seriously? You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“That Donovan’s crazy about you.”

“He is? What has he said?” She pounced that question on him, then drew it way back. “I mean, does he want to go on a date with me?”

“The man was ready to marry you.”

She leaned back on the bench.False alarm, heart. False alarm.“Um . . . That was pretend.”

“Was it? Trust me, the guy is head over heels. You should have seen his face when he caught sight of you in the wedding dress. We saw you in the front lobby. It only took him seconds to agree to fill in for me.” He added, “I mean . . . I would have went through with it if Rachel wasn’t there.”

Zoe sat stunned as Will continued to babble on about not wanting to upset Rachel. The only question in her head: Did Donovan really like her? Sure, their kisses had been steamy, but why would he make it a point to say the very next day that they should keep things between them professional?

Will’s finger tap to her knee brought her back to the moment. “Sorry. I didn’t think he was all that interested in me.”

“Well, trust me. I know my buddy, and he definitely is.” He brought his hands together and cracked a knuckle. “Question is how do you feel?”

She let out a cool breath. “I think I like him, too.” She paused. “I know I like him . . . a lot.” Wow. There it was. She’d finally admitted her feelings to another living being. She glanced over at Will. Who would have guessed that her only confidant in town would be the resident lady’s man who she’d made out with at the Holiday Hook Up? “What should I do?”

“Tell him.” He stood, shoving his hands in his coat pockets. “Trust me. You have nothing to lose. I’ll see you later.”

“See you.” She said goodbye, letting his words sink in:You have nothingtolose.

Nothing but her dignity if Donovan truly wasn’t interested and meant what he’d said about keeping things professional between them.

Also, there was the matter of him not remembering their backstory. How could he ever be interested in dating a woman he so easily cast aside?

She sat alone a little longer, catching a glimpse of Adam with Bethany, crossing the park. Now, there was a cute couple totally in love. She started to wave in their direction but stopped to watch as Adam took Bethany’s hand in his and bent down on his knee.

Oh my God.He’s proposing. She suddenly felt awkward witnessing the private moment between the two, but she couldn’t not watch it. Her insides warmed as Bethany blurted out “yes,” and Adam cupped her face and kissed her.

The happy couple broke apart and proceeded out of the park hand in hand, so caught up in the moment they hadn’t seen Zoe.

Zoe’s head dropped down to the crumpled-up sandwich wrapper in her hand. Would she ever get to experience what Bethany just did?

Doubt crept into her head. Probably not.

She shook her head defiantly and bolted up. Enough was enough. It was time for her confident, self-assured self to get in the game. That side of her had shown up to launch her shop last summer. Now, she needed that same confidence to go get her man.

Or at least see if he’d go on a date with her.

She dropped her wrapper in a nearby trash can and beelined in the direction of the Ice Heaven. She wanted to experience what Adam and Bethany had, and she needed to go find out for herself if the guy she was interested in might feel the same way.

15

Donovan setthe container of motor oil on the counter in front of Rachel.

“I prefer ketchup with my fries,” Rachel said in between bites. She’d stopped by the Ice Heaven to drop off his phone. She’d accidentally picked his up from her kitchen table instead of hers. Easy to do since they had the same phone.

The lunch crowd had died down, so he told her to take a seat and fixed her a BLT along with a side order of his awesome garlic fries.

Over the last few days, he hadn’t seen much of his sister other than high-fiving each other in the hallway on the way to the bathroom. He’d gotten home close to midnight every day this week. It was nice to catch up. He grabbed the motor oil, turning it over. “It was in the purse.”

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