Page 14 of A Heart to Find
True, those were the rules of general social engagement. But Keira had always been different. Keira had never been the kind of person to waste time on small talk. Not when she could delve into someone’s past and learn all about their deepest dreams and most vivid worries with the intensity of her kindness. Heck, she had always been the person who took forever getting through the checkout line in a grocery store because she became so engaged in learning about the person behind her in line and then the cashier. He had always wondered how she did it—made people feel so free to open up to her as if they had known her forever.
Maybe she had changed.
No. The only thing that had changed was how she felt about him. He would bet his entire livelihood on it.
But if she needed him to play the strangers-getting-to-know-one-another game, he’d play.
The sleigh dropped them off next to a path lit by small flickering lanterns leading them to a gazebo with a single round table set up in the middle. As promised, figure skaters glided over the frozen pond, warming up for the show. Candles on the table beckoned them forward. Jared held a chair out for Keira to sit, unable to contain the smile she so easily elicited from him.
How was it possible that they were here together?
“This feels like a fairyland. So beautiful.”
Looking at her, he could only smile and nod his head in full agreement.
She blamed the power of the full moon pulling her in. She blamed the magic of the gently illuminated gazebo. She most definitely blamed the gracefulness of the figure skaters and the romance they conjured on the ice.
Any of those things—or perhaps the combination of the three— were to blame for her nodding her head in agreement when Jared proposed another date tomorrow.
Sure, she had no real choice if she wanted to get her next shot at finding her real match. But that was no excuse for the juvenile way her stomach fluttered. Not a valid reason for the full-body flush that rushed over her skin when his fingers brushed hers as they both reached for the same water glass. And she absolutely one million percent could not fathom why that stupid giggle had erupted from her throat when their hostess recommended that Keira be the one to plan tomorrow’s date.
At least Jared had looked alarmed at the unexpected reaction. Maybe he worried she’d plot something devious.
Maybe she should…
Jet lag must be responsible for the giddiness. Yeah. Definitely jet lag. Okay, so she hadn’t flown. Hadn’t changed time zones. Hadn’t even taken more than a few hours to get to the resort from her hometown, but she needed something else to blame, and jet lag seemed like a valid scapegoat.
No one needed to know the lies she told herself.
“What crazy thoughts are you having behind that mysterious smile?” Jared leaned forward, hovering over his empty dessert plate. “Go easy on me on this date plan, will ya?”
Her grin grew wider, and though she tried to stop the spreading infection, the ideas rolling through her head entertained her far too much.
“I’m thinking something to do with seafood. I remember how much you adore anything in a shell.”
He squirmed in his seat.
“Wow, Jared. That shade of green on your face is quite becoming. Feeling sick, are you?”
His well-sculpted cheeks dipped in slightly, as if he were biting back a retort.
“If you want seafood, then seafood it shall be.”
“My, my, how things have changed. I seem to remember a time where you almost broke up with me for insisting we have lobster for my birthday.”
He winced. “That was the immature teenage me that you knew. May I introduce you to the more refined, less selfish me?”
“Does the more refined, less selfish Jared like seafood now? Because that level of change would truly shock me.”
“The more refined, less selfish me acknowledges that you can indulge in seafood while I choose something else off the menu. Like fried chicken tenders.” His eyes crinkled around the edges and his teeth glittered.
“Oh, but the smell! The sight! What will poor Jared do if he has to watch me eat something so repulsive?” What was wrong with her? Why was she teasing him so mercilessly? Why was she enjoying the banter so much?
“You’re really enjoying making me squirm, aren’t you?”
She nodded gleefully, bouncing in her seat. She’d blame the chocolate lava cake induced sugar rush for that one.
Enjoying it too much.
