Page 19 of Finding You
She nodded. “I went to an all-girls boarding school. Trust me, I know all about bullying and fights.”
That was intriguing. “Plus, Marcus Flint stole my prom date senior year.”
“What? How?”
“I had asked this girl, Julie Baranski, to prom.” It was a big deal. Asking her took a lot of courage and a lot of practicing with Callum to get it right and not stutter. I had crushed on her for years but never worked up the courage to talk to her. I dated in high school—plenty of girls went for the strong silent type—but she was my ultimate crush. I can remember how incredible I felt after she said yes. “Then Marcus Flint told her I had only asked her as a joke and was going to stand her up, so she agreed to go with him.”
“That asshole. And what a bitch. How could she think that about you? You are not that kind of guy.” She was fired up and I loved it. Some women, when they got mad, yelled and shouted and got shrill. Astrid was even cooler and eerily calm. She spoke in a low, monotone voice. “Does she live here? Can I pay her a visit and kick her ass?” She looked around the room like she would be here.
I laughed. “Stop. I’m over it. It was a long time ago.”
“I’m not over it. Let me at him.” She pretended to go after Marcus, and I grabbed her arm. I pulled her back toward me, and she placed her hand on my chest. Every cell of my body lit up with lust. I wanted those hands all over me.
“It’s fine. They actually ended up getting married.”
“Ugh. Of course they did. So why was he here hitting on me? Gross.”
“They are divorced now. She lives in New Hampshire with their two kids. Her mom and my mom still keep in touch.”
“That’s sad. And he sucks. If I had known what a douche he was, I would have sold the fake girlfriend way harder. I would have climbed in your lap and stroked your beard.”
Just the suggestion of her words made me squirm, and I hoped that these new jeans could hide the evidence of my attraction to her.
I had to change the subject. “So what are you doing here?”
She sighed and played with her hair. “I was actually supposed to meet a date here, but I got stood up.”
I couldn’t believe that. “Who, your boyfriend?”
“No. I don’t have a boyfriend. I had connected with a guy on a dating app, and we planned to meet here. He never showed.”
I thanked the gods of Tinder and Bumble and whateverthefuck the others were called that some dude was dumb enough to pass on this woman. I stared at her, mesmerized by her moss-green eyes, her high cheekbones, and her full, lush lips. I would probably jump off a bridge right now if she asked me to. How could any guy turn her down? “Do you want to grab something to eat while we are here?”
She smiled a true, genuine smile that lit up her whole face. “I’d love that.”
10
ASTRID
I was sittingin a cozy booth at a very romantic restaurant with Declan Quinn. He recommended I try the lobster bisque and it was incredible. I wanted to lick the bowl but restrained myself. I didn’t know why, but since coming to Havenport food tasted so good. Eating was always something that I tried to do as efficiently as possible, usually while sitting in front of my laptop trying to work. I just shoveled food into my face so I could get back to focusing on work.
But sitting here, with an ocean view and flickering candles, it was nice to slowly savor the incredible soup and sip this delicious wine. It was certainly a novel experience. The smoldering dinner companion definitely didn’t hurt either.
I bit into one of the seared day boat scallops and moaned slightly. “This is incredible,” I said, embarrassed that I was basically orgasming over shellfish.
Declan smirked. “Thank you. I caught that scallop—well, not me personally, but my company supplies this restaurant.”
I nodded. “That’s fascinating. So this was caught today?” He nodded. “Why is it called a day boat scallop?”
“It’s the method of harvesting. We go out for one day, hence the name day boat, and use a trawler to catch them in nets. The alternative is diver scallops, which are harvested by scuba divers.”
I sipped my wine. “That’s so cool. So how do you use the nets to get scallops?”
He savored a sip of his beer and explained, “We basically drag them across the sea floor picking up the scallops, sea urchins, and mussels.”
Declan came alive when he talked about his business. I could tell how much he loved it. “What you do is amazing,” I said. “You feed people.”
He laughed and looked embarrassed. “It’s not exactly noble, Astrid.”
