Page 24 of Beyond the Lines
“No!” I almost choke on my coffee, even as I feel heat in my cheeks. “We just talked about art and our families. He grew up on a ranch.”
“A hot cowboy artist?” Em fans herself dramatically. “Be still my heart. Tell me you at least got his number.”
I nod.
“And did you kiss him?” Em prompts.
My silence is all she needs to get carried away. I’m unable to suppress my grin as I remember our goodbye kiss—my lips still tingle at the memory—and she squeals and wraps me in a hug. But we both burst into laughter when she starts doing smoochy face kisses near my cheek, and I have to push her away.
“Have you texted him?”
“Not yet.” I glance at my phone on the nightstand.
“Perfect timing.”
I take another sip of coffee. “That screams desperate.”
“No, it screams ‘I had fun.’” She grins. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
He could crush you like Chris did,my mind whispers.He could have a secret girlfriend. He could?—
“Lea!” Em waves her hand in front of my face. “Where’d you go just now?”
“Nowhere.” I force a smile, pushing thoughts of Chris aside. “I’m just… taking it slow.”
Em’s expression softens. “Because of that guy from your trip?”
I tense. “Yeah.”
“Well, Declan seems different.” Em’s eyes sparkle with mischief. “I mean, what kind of guy takes a girl to a diner at three in the morning just to talk about art?”
“The kind who’s probably just being nice?”
“The kind who’s interested,” Em corrects. “Did he grope you? Try to get you back to his place?”
“No…”
“Then he’sveryinterested,” she squeals.
I grab my pillow and lob it at her head.
She dodges, laughing. “Tell me about him,” she says.
“Well…” I try to find the right words to describe him, but how do you capture someone in just a few sentences? How do you explain the way his eyes light up when he talks about art, or how his laugh starts deep in his chest? “He’s tall. Light brown hair that’s kind of wavy. The most incredible blue eyes…”
“Mmm.” Em nods approvingly. “And?”
“And what?”
“And… body…”
“No way!” I laugh, throwing my other pillow at her. “Getyour mind out of the gutter.”
“My mind lives in the gutter. It’s cozy down here.” Em catches the pillow and hugs it to her chest. “So when are you seeing him again?”
“Today, maybe.” I try to sound casual, but my stomach does a little flip. “We talked about getting coffee.”
“Ooh!” Em bounces on the bed. “Can we social media stalk him first? What’s his last name?”
