Page 8 of Book Boyfriend
He’s very observant. I take the chip and stuff it into my mouth in one bite just like he did. He laughs.
When I’ve almost finished chewing I cover my mouth slightly with my hand and say, “Maybe I’m newly homeless or found the shirt in a dumpster.”
“You don’t like personal questions, do you?”
I choose to ignore the question because he figured me out too quickly. “What bringsyouto the Keys?” I ask, diverting the attention.
“Work. I travel a lot. I rarely get me time, but this trip was different. I actually have a day all to myself for once.”
The next obvious question would be what do you do? But I don’t want to get too personal. I’m leaving tomorrow and I’ll never see him again, so why should I care?
He stops eating and stares at me for a moment. I think he’s waiting for me to ask him, but I don’t. I take a giant bite of my taco and watch half of it drip out the other side.
“You’re different.”
I sigh as I open my taco and reload it with my fingers. I’m not letting any of this deliciousness go to waste. “You mean a mess?”
“No, not at all. You seem to know exactly who you are. It’s very appealing. You’re not like other girls.”
Motioning to my body, I reply, “This is all woman, Fisher. What you see is what you get.”
“I like what I see and I’ll take any of it I can get.”
Oh boy. He’s a flirt and a half. I decide to let it slide. I take another bite before I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. He chuckles lightly, covering his mouth.
“What?” I ask, concerned.
He points to my head. I grab a napkin and wipe my lips. Crap. I probably have taco juice running down my face.
“No. There,” he says, pointing again.
I wipe my cheeks, then my nose as he keeps laughing and I get it wrong.
“For fuck’s sake, where?” I ask.
He reaches his hand across the table and pulls a small piece of tomato from my hair by my ear.
He holds it in his palm for me to see.
“Hey. That’s mine. Get your own. I was saving that for later.” I place it back on my ear and refocus on my taco.
“My God, you’re beautiful.”
I stop mid bite and stare at him. He’s making serious direct eye contact.
Placing my taco on the table, I take a long drink from my margarita in an effort to think what I want to say. I wipe my hands on a napkin and briefly roll my tongue around my teeth to dislocate any loose pieces of meat or cheese before I speak. Then, I let it fly.
“What’s the plan here?” I ask. “You see a woman on the beach who’s obviously alone. You run her down, take her to dinner, woo her with your charm, and then what? Bed her and steal her cash while she sleeps?”
“Am I wooing you?”
“That sounds like an admission.”
He sighs. “First of all, if I’d scoped you out and wanted to meet you, I wouldn’t have knocked you over. I’m not that kind of guy. I might have tripped in front of you or hell, just stopped and introduced myself. Secondly, I didn’t know you were alone, but I hoped you were single when I didn’t see a wedding ring. Third, I don’t think I’m charming in the least, but I’m trying to be. I’m not sure it’s doing me any favors. Fourth, I don’t need any money. I have cash of my own.”
“You forgot the bed her part.”
He leans forward, placing his elbows on the table. “I’d like to leave that option open.”
