Page 79 of Mine Again
Instead, he told me about his promotion, and my plans came crashing down.
And then, of course, Sebastian unexpectedly reappeared and turned a terrible afternoon into something promising again.
Funny how similar things are now.
The reason I am here. The buildup. The what-ifs.
I had texted and talked with Andrea a lot before our first date. And over the last week, it’s been the same with Sebastian.
We messaged every day and even had a phone call. It was easy. Flirty. And I’m getting used to his directness. It’s surprisingly endearing.
As I walk toward him, butterflies swarm in my stomach.
Sebastian is already seated at a small table near the edge of the courtyard and looks completely at ease. One hand rests casually on the table, the other scrolls through his phone.
Today he’s dressed in a soft blue button-down, sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms. Tan skin, and a posture like he owns the world.
I slow down as I approach, panic suddenly flooding through my chest.
What am I doing?
Before I can sink deeper into my unease, Sebastian looks up and smiles when he spots me. Standing up, he steps toward me.
“There you are,” he says, kissing my cheek gently, his hand brushing my arm as he pulls back. “I was beginning to worry you’d changed your mind.”
The kiss is soft, confident, over too fast. And it still manages to scatter my thoughts. The way he did it, so natural, so sure, it seemed like something we had done a hundred times already. Not like a first.
There wasn’t any awkwardness in our greeting, so different from the one I had with Andrea.
“Not a chance,” I say, trying not to show how warm my face is.
The server appears and hands us menus. Before I can even glance at mine, Sebastian hands both back.
“She’ll have a cappuccino and the limoncello tart,” he says, without hesitation.
I blink. “Will I?”
Yep, he’s definitely bossy. The jury is out on whether I like it.
He smiles like it’s obvious. “It’s your favorite, isn’t it?”
“It is. But how do you know?”
“You had it on your birthday, and it looked like you enjoyed it.”
I tilt my head. “That was in September. And you were across the restaurant.”
He lifts a shoulder. “I was watching you all night, remember?”
How could I forget?
“Well, your eyesight needs checking. It was a chocolate cake.”
He hesitates, then nods slowly.
“Hmm. You must have mentioned it on the phone then. We did talk about favorite foods the other day.”
I remember it vaguely. Maybe I did say something.
