Page 38 of A Real Man for Christmas

I stared at the two of them. This was not going to go well. I decided to ignore it all. I beamed and waved. “Great! Have fun. Meet you both back here in two hours, okay?”

“Got it!” Isla lifted a resolute chin and projected a bright smile. She tried to link her arm through Janet’s.

“Noooo.” Janet yanked her arm away.

I gave a nervous laugh. “Okay. See ya!”

I escaped and crossed the street to the restaurant as quickly as possible. Babysitting each other for a couple of hours wouldn’t kill them. But it would be nice to have an alibi, just in case.

The Sandwich Stack was packed with tourists, but I’d made a reservation online and was seated right away. A few minutes later, I got a text from Tanner.

I’m across the street from the restaurant. Want to walk over with me?

I typed a quick response.

Already here. Come on over.

The three dots bounced. And bounced. I craned my neck to see if I could spy him out the window, but I didn’t see him. Finally he answered.

Do you mind coming back so we can walk over together?

I huffed. Seriously? Abandon my table in a crowded restaurant to walk outside and cross the street just to walk back with him? Talk about high maintenance. That’s how it always was with dating. A guy would seem really great at first and then suddenly you hit a big wall of weird.

The waiter stopped by my table with a water pitcher just as I was sliding out of the booth.

“Leaving so soon, Miss?”

“No, sorry. Please hold my table,” I begged, pleading with my eyes for him to protect these precious inches of NYC real estate. “I just need to grab my boyfriend. He’s right across the street.”

“Well, we’re very busy—”

“Two seconds!” I yelled as I sprinted past him. “He got lost.”

The waiter shook his head but was pouring our waters as I dashed out the door. Tanner was just across the street. I waved him over. He shook his head and waved me over. I rolled my eyes and tapped my foot until the walk signal turned green. I dashed like I was in a relay race. Finally, I reached him and almost passed him my invisible baton. “What’s up? Why couldn’t you—”

He grabbed me in a big hug. “Hello, you! Good to see you.”

I laughed in surprise. “It’s good to see you too. Now come on before we lose our table.”

We held hands and ran back across the street together. Inside the restaurant, another couple was headed for our spot.

“Block them,” I whispered to Tanner.

I feinted left and wove through the tables while Tanner dodged right, almost colliding with the other couple. I reached the booth first. Completely avoiding eye contact, I sat down and took a long drink of water, taking care to ostentatiously lick the glass’s rim. There. I’d marked my territory with my germs.

The couple shot poisonous glances in my direction, but I’d rendered them powerless. The table was mine.

Tanner followed, chuckling as he slid into the booth across from me. He unwound his scarf. “That was fun.”

I laughed too. It was a relief from the panic at the prospect of losing our reservation. “Phew! That was close.”

“We make a great team.”

“We really do.” I picked up my menu and then peered at him over the top. “Hey. What was that about?”

“Hmm?” he said, studying his menu.

“You know”—I gestured at the window—“texting me to meet you outside.”

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