Chapter 2 #2
I wore comfortable maxi skirts, often paired with dorky t-shirts sporting book-ish sayings. My preferred choice in footwear during the winter was faux-fur-lined booties. As for glasses, I wore them when I needed to read. They weren’t a prop used to draw attention to my pouty lips.
Long story short, I wasn’t the kind of woman who attracted guys like Zane.
He and I were so different; he was like a member of an alien race—a race I could have a lot of fun with.
But fun was where it would end. There was no hope of anything lasting with a guy like him.
One look at me in my natural habitat would have him running for the hills.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy myself for as long as the illusion could last.
“Check it,” he said.
I turned around and clapped a hand over my grinning mouth.
On the other side of the rack, stood a six-foot-something, chiseled masterpiece of a man wearing a vintage t-shirt that was at least two sizes too small.
The words “puppy love” were printed in bubble letters above a cartoonish drawing of a black dog that bore an uncanny resemblance to Percy.
Zane performed a sweeping motion with his arms that I half-expected to be accompanied by a sing-song rendition of the exclamation ta-daaaaa. “What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s better than the tulip, I’ll grant you that. But isn’t it a little small?”
He shrugged. “I usually wear my t’s a little tight.” He flexed, waltzing up his side of the rack toward me. “You know, gotta keep the fans happy.”
I rested my forearms on the top of the rack, leaning in toward him as the smile on my face widened. “And just how many fans do you have?”
His eyes sparked as exciting secrets swirled in their depths. “A few.” With his gaze locked onto mine, he took a deep breath and added, “But none of them are as interesting as you.”
Okay, he was full of it, but something inside me liked it. “I have to say,” I said, taking in the goofy doggy grin on his shirt, “Percy never looked better.”
“Told you this shirt was a winner. Besides, it’ll remind me of you.”
“There you go again, saying you need something to remember me by. Am I really that forgettable?”
Zane’s laugh rumbled deep inside him. He took a step closer, electricity arcing between us and singeing the air. “You’re more unforgettable than you realize.”
I blinked up at him, a haze filling my mind that made it hard to think of anything but his crystal-blue eyes. They were like ice—hot, fiery ice, if that was even possible. My mouth went dry and my mind went blank. There wasn’t a witty comeback for a compliment like that.
I stepped closer, not caring that I was disturbing the hangers. He was a magnet, and I was caught in his pull.
The corner of his mouth curved into a knowing smile that said it all.
I was hooked and he knew it. My heart fluttered wildly in my chest, waiting for him to speak again—goodness knows, I didn’t know what to say.
But before he could say another word, Percy forced his way through the clothing on the rack, lunging for Zane’s discarded hoodie on the ground.
The rack teetered enough to bring the shop owner through the front door, shouting at us in some language I didn’t understand. But Zane caught it before it toppled over.
“I’m so sorry,” I said a bit too loud and slowly, as if that would help bridge our language gap. “How much for the shirt?” I said in the same ridiculous way.
The man scowled at me until I pulled a twenty-dollar bill from my purse and shoved it into his hand, pointing at Zane’s new threads.
The right amount of green was all it took to make the man stop seeing red.
He nodded and then went back inside, holding the twenty up to the sunlight as if checking it for authenticity.
“Smooth move,” Zane said.
“You, too. You’ve got great reflexes.”
He shrugged. “It was purely self-preservation. What got into Percy?”
We turned our attention on my furry disaster of a dog and saw him lying on Zane’s hoodie and licking the last crumbs of beef jerky from the bag he’d pulled from the pocket and torn open.
I moaned. “It looks like your protein got into him. I’m sorry. How much do I owe you?”
“Why don’t you give me your number and we’ll call it even.”
I shook my head and came around to his side of the rack.
“All I’ve got left on me is another twenty.
Hopefully that’ll cover your dry cleaning and replace the jerky Percy stole.
” I held it out to him, but he wouldn’t take it until I pressed the cash into the palm of his hand.
He held onto my fingertips for an extra beat before I slipped them away to grab the leash.
“Time to go, Percy.” I took one last look at Zane’s unforgettable eyes and then set off down the street toward my car. “It was nice meeting you, Zane,” I called over my shoulder.
“You’ll be sorry,” Zane called out behind me. “You’ll never know if the stain came out if I can’t text you a pic. Can you handle the guilt?”
I spun around and continued walking backward down the sidewalk. “I’ll just have to risk it.” I waved, excitement coursing through my veins. I turned around and set my sights on my tiny Fiat 500.
“See you around,” Zane called out from somewhere behind me.
Once Percy was situated in the back seat, I chanced a glance in Zane’s direction. He was gone, and the thrill that had had me flying high evaporated, leaving me to crash and burn.
Zane was gone.
I didn’t even know his last name.
Perhaps no-strings flirting wasn’t my favorite new sport after all.
If only my life were one of those “choose your own way” books we sold in the kids’ aisle back home.
I’d flip back to the last section and choose the option where I gave Zane my number and we gave those thirty years he was talking about a chance.
But do-overs weren’t a real thing, and I’d just made the dumbest decision of my life.