Page 17 of Definitely (Maybe) Dating
“I’m willing to add another name to the list,” she said.
Telling herself the shot was for Darcy, she held strong. Over the years, she’d learned that silence and patience were as important as lightning when it came to photography.
It wasn’t about the first shot. It was the unexpected shot she waited for. And she didn’t have to wait long. Looking straight through the lens, his eyes warmed, his expression was one of,Challenge accepted,and her belly did that same annoying little flip thingy.
He picked up two plates from a nearby table, balancing them in a single hand. His shoes clicked on the terracotta tile as he moved toward her, not stopping until he was standing so close she could smell the rain on his skin.
Not comfortable with him all up in her space, she walked backward, but he followed. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure my name isn’t on the list, Florence,” he teased.
“Oh, it’s at the top and Florence says, ‘Effoff and leave the tattoo meaning alone.’” She looked up, surprised to find that she was under an umbrella and out of the rain. She waited for him to ruin the chivalrous moment with some kind of meathead move, like checking out her boobs or caging her in for a kiss.
“Hungry?” He held out the plate.
She took a step back as if the offering were from Ted Bundy. “What’s this?”
“Since peanut butter and chocolate isn’t a meal, I thought you might need something heartier.”
Again, she waited for the big come on. Instead, he said nothing more.
“Peanuts are protein, and chocolate is a heart-healthy antioxidant. Look it up, it’s a super food.”
“Chocolate kisses don’t count, and there’s enough sugar in your peanut butter to make Charlie and his Chocolate Factory look weak.” He held out the plates, urging her to take her pick.
She looked at the assortment of things. Things with skewers and tapenade and names someone would have to be fluent in French to pronounce. “Do you have anything that comes in a to-go bag?”
He laughed. “Turns out there’s a thing called UberEats. With my newly cemented career, I bet I could get you a discount.”
“Actually, I’m really not that hungry—is that cake!”
On the bottom plate was a slice of cake. Not just any cake. Limoncello cake with raspberry filling and mascarpone buttercream that she’d watched Jillian ice in the kitchen before the party.
Jillian’s cake company might be in its fledgling stage, but she was already gaining a reputation in Portland for being the Cake Goddess. And if her four-layer cake was as good as her cakepops, Josh just might work his way off her asshole list.
She licked her lips, and her stomach growled. “You’re really working hard for that tip, aren’t you?”
“I’ll take a dance instead.”
“There is a room full of women who’d be more than happy to dance with you.”
“And yet, here I am. A boy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to dance with him.”
Piper might have rolled her eyes, but her chest tightened and her stomach gave a little flutter. Would it be so bad to lean forward and disappear into his big, warm arms, for a minute to know what it was like to be one of those people inside—laughing and sharing memories.
Only, she wasn’t looking to make the kind of memories that followed stripping in the back of the best man’s car. She knew how she must have come across.Knewhow it would appear if she accepted the dance. She saw the way he’d looked at her, and he was a smart guy, so he knew how she’d been looking at him.
She wasn’t an idiot. Guys like Josh, the upper crust, upper class, and up tight—a loafer and tassel guy—took one look at her nose ring, army boots, and blue streaked hair and saw a wild night with a wild girl. When, in fact, Piper was the furthest thing from wild. Her first seventeen years had been one wild ride after another so when she turned eighteen, and her life became her own, she made a conscious decision to be better than her upbringing.
And even though he’d been a perfect gentleman, as a rule she didn’t trust gentlemen. Perfect or otherwise.
She ordered her hormones to cool their jets and squared her shoulders. “Do you think I’d come into your work and ask you to dance?”
“My office isn’t really big enough to dance. Well, maybe a middle-school sway. But to really show off my moves?” He grinned, shrugging out of his coat and stepping forward.
Again, she took a big step back and held out a halting hand. “Look, I get it. I asked for help with the zipper and then we were flirting, so I can see how that could come across.” She hated that her throat caught on the last few words.
His smile faded. “My mind wasn’t even going there.”
