of nowhere, my brain switches into idiot mode, and I ask, “Do you mean you came to see me because of the cookies?”
Cade looks confused for a moment but shakes his head. “Not really.”
“Because I didn’t make any today. It’s my day off. I made a different dessert yesterday, though, and if you love lemon, you should definitely go in and check it out.”
“I didn’t come here for food.”
Now I feel foolish and uncomfortable, so I blurt out something I know is a lie. “Oh, because I thought you and your friend might be food bloggers. Some of the local ones have been doing write-ups about what I make.”
He smiles and shakes his head again. “No. My friend is actually my cousin. Alex is a chef like you. I do nothing with food other than eat it. That I’m very talented at.”
I can’t help but let my gaze roam down his muscular, toned body as I decide he’s a liar like I am. Or maybe he just eats really healthy stuff to get to look like that.
When I don’t say anything to what I’m sure can’t be the truth, he says, “So it’s your day off? Want to go do something?”
“You mean you and me? Us do something?”
“Yeah,” he says and then chuckles. “I thought maybe we could hang out and get to know one another. I saw you looking through the window at me the other day. It’s fine that you’re shy. I have enough confidence for both of us.”
“It seems like you do.”
“That’s not a bad thing, though. I mean, the shyness. I like that. I bet once you get to know someone you aren’t so quiet anyway, so I thought we could start on getting to know one another today.”
“Are you always like this with women?” I ask, unsure if I’m put off by how forward he is or intrigued that he truly is this confident.
“I don’t hesitate when I see someone I like. I think you like me too. I mean, unless you were checking out Alex the other day, but I didn’t get the feeling you were. You seemed more interested in me,” he says in that smooth way that seems so natural to him.
Hearing he likes me makes every ounce of anxiety that lives inside me rear its ugly head. I should have never looked out that kitchen window at him. That’s what I get for listening to Dr. Thorpe and Meadow.
Put yourself out there, Hailey. Let people know you like them. Try it.
This is what happens when I take their advice. I end up in a parking lot talking to some gorgeous guy and feeling like the only thing I want to do is run away before I say or do something so utterly ridiculous that I humiliate myself.
Looking down at my keys I’m gripping tightly in my hand, I mumble, “I have to go. You should go inside and have one of the lemon desserts I made. You might like them.”
And then before he can say another word, possibly that it was a mistake to come here today because I’m just a basket case, I run inside the restaurant and hide in the kitchen back near my station.
Ten minutes later, after pretending like I was looking for something just in case someone saw me tear back here, I look out that same kitchen door window where he saw me checking him out the other day and see there’s no red Jaguar in the parking lot. For a moment, relief washes over me, but then that’s replaced by regret, like always when I push people away like I just did with Cade.
I sneak out the back door of the restaurant this time and walk out to my car, silently berating myself for being exactly who I swore I wouldn’t be anymore. But if you’re not ready, you’re not ready. It doesn’t matter what the horse looks like or that he likes you.
By the time I reach my car, I can’t remember what I wanted to do today because all I want to do now is go home and crawl underneath the covers. As I slide into the driver’s seat, a white piece of paper stuck under one of my windshield wipers flaps in the breeze. When I grab it and open it up, I see it’s from Cade.
Hey, give me a call sometime. I think we could have fun. I promise I don’t bite. Unless you want me to. 555-2466
Cade March
Quickly, I stuff