Page 17 of Heart of Stone
He paused. A pause when answering a pretty simple question was never a great thing. “I’m self-employed. I’m in import and export.”
A short laugh spurted from my lips. He looked slightly insulted. “Import and export?” I repeated. “Isn’t that the default answer for people who don’t want to go into the sketchy details of their shady side business?” Sometimes my straightforward tongue shot out ahead of my brain. I wanted to retract the question the second it’d left my mouth.
He took a long, slow sip of his coffee, and I was sure I’d just ended our coffee date. He stared at me over the rim of the cup and then lowered it to the table. “Or, I could actually be in import and export.”
“You’re right. That was bitchy of me. Sorry. I think I’m getting a sugar rush and then my mouth just sort of runs off with itself.” I took another drink to shut myself up.
David checked his expensive looking watch. “Speaking of business, I’ve got to meet some people.”
I’d blown it. My big mouth had pushed this one away.
He tossed me his napkin. I instinctively touched mymouth to see if I had whipped cream on my lips. He smiled. “It’s not for your face. I was hoping you’d write down your phone number.”
This time I paused. I was leaving my cocoon, and I wasn’t completely sure how I was going to adapt out in the real world.
“Of course, if you don’t want to?—”
“No, I do.” I shuffled through my purse and found an eyeliner pencil. “This is the extent of my writing utensils.” I quickly jotted down my cell phone number and pushed the napkin back over to him.
He picked it up and put it in his pocket. “I should get going.”
“Yeah, me too. I’ve got to get ready for work.”
“And what is it you do?”
I sighed wishing I had something exciting to tell him. But I made good money, and Jack had me practically running Lazy Daze. I needed to remind myself that I’d done pretty well. “I serve drinks and help run Lazy Daze. It’s a bar off the highway.”
“Yes, I know the place. Do you live nearby?”
“Yep. I live in Trayton. I have to admit, as a teenager I was always itching to get away from it, but now I’m not sure I’d ever want to leave the place. It’s small and everyone has their noses in everyone’s business and sometimes the smell of the ocean and the fishing boats makes everything you eat smell like fish, but in the morning, after the fog lifts and the view over the ocean stretches on forever, it makes you feel like you’re living on the edge of the world. You know? Damn, I’m rambling.” I looked into my emptycup. “And I don’t have any more coffee in my cup to shut me up.”
He was listening to every word. I wasn’t used to it. I liked it. “You’re not rambling, and I’m enjoying it. Best conversation I’ve had in a long time. And I do know what you mean. I love the ocean. I guess that’s obvious.” He stood up. “I’ll walk you to your car, if you don’t mind.”
We walked outside. The late afternoon breeze had brought a clammy cold with it. I pulled up the hood of my sweatshirt. We reached my car. I smiled up at him from around the edge of my hood. “Thanks for the coffee.”
He reached up and pushed the hood back off my head and pressed his hand against my waist as he lowered his face to mine. It was a nice kiss, nothing earth shattering but I hadn’t really expected it. “I’ll talk to you soon, Amy.”
He headed back to his car. I climbed into mine and watched him in the rearview mirror as he pulled his phone out before getting into his car. He drove off. I lifted my face toward the mirror and touched my lips. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d kissed someone other than Hunter. David’s kiss had been fine, but it was just that, a kiss, two mouths pressing together. When Hunter kissed me, it felt as if my core was melting and turning every part of me into Jell-o. Damn. I was doing it again. I had to stop.
My phone rang as I started the car. It wasn’t a number I recognized. With my mom, I always expected the worst. “Hello.”
“There’s this great seafood restaurant about an hour up the coast. Tomorrow night around seven?”
“Wow, I guess I won’t have to waste any time in the next few days wondering if the new guy is going to call.”
“When I see something I want, I don’t believe in wasting time. So, what about the dinner?”
“I just happen to have tomorrow night off. So yes.” It felt so strange making plans with another man. I wasn’t sure if my heart was beating so hard because I was excited or scared. A little of both, it seemed.
“Just text me your address, and I’ll pick you up at seven.”
My heart fell to my stomach. There was no way I could let this guy come to my shabby house where masking tape was dangling off kitchen cupboards and weeds choked the front path. And Hunter. What if Hunter was home when David came to pick me up? I’d made it clear that I wanted to see other guys, but I had no idea how that little plan was sitting with my oversized, overprotective neighbor. “Uh, I’ll meet you here again. I’ve got to pick up the prescription I dropped off. It won’t be ready until tomorrow after five. It’s for my mom’s arthritis,” I added unnecessarily.
“All right. See you tomorrow night, Amy.”
“Bye.” I hung up. Today, I was Amy and not Street. It felt weird and sort of lonely to hear my real name, instead of my nickname. Not completely sure I was ever going to get used to that.
TEN
