Page 39 of Domino
He waves her off. “It’s no big deal. I made sure to tell them you loved them for you. They were happy enough with that.”
“You are the best,” she says.
He nods. “I know,” he says with a smile on his face, then he turns to me. “And how are you doing, Ash? Settling in okay?”
I nod. “I am. Thank you so much for everything.”
“No need for thanks. We’re glad to have you here. And the twins love having Cole around.”
“So, Ashley’s got her hooks into a man,” Missy says.
“Missy!” I gasp and laugh.
Mark raises his eyebrows. “Oh, really now? And who is he?”
“I don’t have my hooks into anybody,” I argue.
“She gave him her number.”
“Well, I’d say that’s definitely the definition of having your hooks into somebody,” he confirms.
“He’s not even going to call,” I say, cringing at how lame it sounds coming out of my mouth.
“Oh, he’ll call. He’s been coming into the diner like, all the time, just to see and talk to her,” Missy says.
“He’s come in a few times. That’s totally not the same as all the time,” I say, feeling my cheeks growing positively hot.
“Oh, he’s definitely going to call. In my experience, if a man puts in the time and effort to stalk you, he’ll definitely call.”
I bury my face in my hands again, unable to control my laughter… and to hide my embarrassment. Slowly, I manage to get myself under control and can finally look up at them again without feeling like I want to crawl into a hole and die.
“He’s not stalking me. He’s just… persistent,” I say.
“Persistently stalking you,” Missy say.
“But it’s kind of in a sweet way. It’s like not a creepy kind of stalking,” I offer.
“Listen to you defending him,” Mark says. “Sounds like you totally like this guy already.”
“She does. She’s not the kind of girl who goes around throwing her number out to anybody. This one’s special, I think.”
“Yeah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I laugh.
“Well, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that he doesn’t turn into a creepy kind of stalker and that he’s a nice guy,” Mark says.
“Thank you,” I reply, feeling all kinds of awkward about being put on the spot.
“I’m beat, so I’m going to turn in, if that’s all right,” Mark says.
“I’ll be in soon, baby,” Missy says.
He leans down and gives her a quick peck, then stands up and offers me a warm smile.
“Night,” he says.
“Night,” I reply.
He heads back into the house, leaving us alone again. I’m still giggling and feeling embarrassed and trying to get myself back under control. Missy tops both of our glasses off, then sets the bottle down. She picks up her glass and sits back in her seat, giving me a playful smile.
