Page 6 of Heartstruck at Dawn
But most of all, I missed talking to him, his lips, and the way he kissed me. Like he knew what he wanted andhowhe wanted it, which were the same thingsI wanted.
But William claimed he didn’t want any of those things anymore, and I didn’t want to think about what I wanted right now.
The hardest part of breaking up with Thomas was, ironically, forgetting all about William. I hadn’t run into him since the day he saw me kissing Thomas. I still couldn’t get over that stupid kiss I didn’t even want to begin with.
Why did he have to kiss me?And why did I have to kiss him back?
Anyway … back to Caleb.
His face was drawing nearer, but I turned to the side and tried smiling sweetly. Caleb kissed my cheek as I squeezed his hand a little harder, trying to make up for the kiss I’d just turned down. I really wanted to kiss him, but I wasn’t ready to do it again. Not when my mind was elsewhere.
“Let’s go,” he said. “You’re going to be late.” He offered me a heartfelt smile and released my hand. We wandered out of my apartment as two people who weren’t about to kiss a few seconds ago.
David drove hastily to the sushi place where I was meeting Nina and CJ for lunch. Once we arrived, Caleb walked me to my table.It’s your father’s orders,he insisted. My father felt more apprehensive than usual after my breakup with Thomas.
My phone buzzed as I looked around the restaurant for my friends.
“Don’t be mad,” CJ said over the phone when I took the call.
“Are you somewhere else? I can still make it.”
“No. We’re not showing up.”
“What do you mean? Is everything okay?” I was genuinely concerned.
“We set you up on a blind date. I’m sorry, please don’t hate me. His name is Charles, and he’s super yummy. You’ll thank me later. Ciao ciao!” He ended the call with a cheerful tone. I gawked at my phone’s screen with indignation.
A date? Ablinddate?Hell no.
“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked reactively.
I intended to leave when I heard someone calling my name. I turned around toward the voice, and a classically handsome guy walked up to me. Tall, perfectly combed dirty blond hair, big white smile, five o’clock shadow, and gray-blue eyes. I could say,totally my type,but that sort of guy is easily anyone’s type. Unfortunately, I wasn’t interested in staying.
“You’re Billie, right?” he asked, closing the distance between us. “A pretty redhead. I’d say you’re a match for the description Nina gave me.”
I spotted Caleb glaring at me from the corner of my eye, probably wanting to know what the heck was happening. Since I was in shock and didn’t know what else to say, Charles introduced himself and offered me his hand. I shook it and said it was a pleasure to meet him.
“Could you—excuse me for two seconds?” I asked Charles. He shot a grin at me and said he’d wait for me at the table. I managed to smile and walked away to give me the two seconds I’d requested of him.
“Whatthe hellis going on?” Caleb whispered through his teeth. His jaw popped. There was nothing he hated more than surprises and a sudden change of plans.
“Nina and CJ set me up on a blind date,” I whispered back. “They don’t know anything about … well, anything. They just know that I broke up with Thomas a little more than a month ago, and for whatever reason, they believe I’m ready to start dating again.”
“You’re not honestly thinking of going through with this, are you?” Caleb seemed exasperated. “Your father won’t approve. He instructed us to run a background check on anyone who wants to … date you.” He lifted a brow and glanced at Charles.
Jesus.
“Background checks? And what am I supposed to do? He’s sitting there, waiting for me,” I replied, looking over my shoulder. Charles waved two fingers my way when he saw me looking at him. “He seems harmless. I’ll sit with him for a while, and I’ll SOS you once it feels right. Come on. It’ll be fun.” Caleb agreed with hesitation, seemingly annoyed, but I just wanted to be done with this and leave.
“I have to see his ID, though.”
“Caleb! No, you …” He ignored me and darted toward the table ahead of me.
“Excuse me, sir. I’m going to need to see some ID,” Caleb said to Charles with a deep voice and a thick accent. Charles stood up with haste, pulled out his wallet, and handed his ID over to Caleb, who took a picture of it from both sides.
“Here you go, Mr. Donnelly. Sorry about the inconvenience, but it’s protocol.”
Caleb turned around and stood on a wall nearby as he did on my first date with Thomas. I honestly didn’t care if he wanted to linger nearby. I just thought it was unnecessary.
