Chapter 29
COLE
When I woke up this morning, not a single part of me thought I would cross paths with Mina—sorry, Yasmine—again.
This is wild.
What’s even crazier is that she’s the woman I’ve been speaking to on Wildcard.
What are the fucking chances of that?
Some might say we were written in the stars; if they did, I would tell them they were right, because it certainly feels that way.
I still can’t believe she’s here.
I’m not just happy, I’m fucking buzzing, but I hate that it’s almost the end of lunch and she’ll be leaving soon, when the last thing I want is for her to go when we’ve finally met again and she knows I’m not the ghosting bastard she labeled me as.
“What’s up with you?” Eli asks from the seat opposite me, cutting through my busy mind that’s trying to figure out what my next move is.
“Nothing,” I lie.
“You look jittery, and you haven’t stopped ogling the woman from FusionTech since she arrived,” Max states before he takes a large bite of his sandwich, looking from me to Yasmine and then back at me again.
I chew on my fingernail, unable to eat because I haven’t spoken to Yasmine since she revealed she’s CodeBreaker.
It’s so obvious to me now, and I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out myself after all the things she’s told me about herself.
We even had a conversation about cars and how I collect them, and she briefly mentioned her grandfather leaving her a classic car in his will, but never the make and model.
Now I am wishing I had asked, but she asked me all about the cars I had, and I got so excited sharing my collection that I forgot to ask her about hers.
If I had, I would have figured out who she was.
She was at the end of my fingertips all along.
Leaning forward, I drop my voice. “Do you remember the woman I met on the flight from LA to San Francisco?”
Nathan, Eli, and Max nod their heads, fully aware that I’ve been like a dog with a bone trying to trace her.
Nathan pipes up, mumbling around his food, “How can we not? You’ve been like a bear with a sore head for weeks.”
I didn’t need a character assassination, but I own it and admit, “That’s her.
And the woman I’ve been talking to on an exclusive dating app I downloaded a couple of weeks ago called Wildcard is her too.
She didn’t know who I was and I had no idea who she was but she worked out it was me she’s been talking to on the app not long after she arrived. ”
Three brothers, an estates lawyer, attending a staff conference today… She joined the dots… every one of them leading to me.
It’s going to take some time for me to get my head wrapped around that revelation; it’s almost too hard to believe, yet here we are.
My three brothers stop chewing their food as if in shock, before Max bursts out laughing. “You’re kidding?” he blurts, covering his mouthful of sandwich.
“I’m not.” I couldn’t have made it up if I tried.
Nathan then asks, sounding shocked, “And she works for FusionTech?”
“Yeah,” I reply.
“What are the odds?” Eli ponders, gazing at her from across the room.
“They must be like a million to one.” I can’t even do the math, it’s that mind-boggling.
“But her name is Yasmine,” Nathan states, then adds, “I thought you said the girl from the flight was Mina?”
“Mina is what her parents call her,” I reply, unable to look away as she chats easily with our staff, laughing and engaging with them, making notes on her tablet, and catching my eye every now and again.
I suppose giving me a different name during her panic makes sense, since she wasn’t merely scared; she was utterly petrified. When you’re terrified, it can cause you to say and do things you wouldn’t normally.
“I think she likes you.” Eli places his napkin on the table and folds it neatly into a rectangle, which is what he tends to do.
In fact, scratch that, he does it all the time and with other things too.
I often wonder if Eli has OCD. I could be wrong, but his habits have gotten worse lately.
Whatever is bothering him, in time, I’m sure he’ll tell me.
“Yasmine clearly doesn’t know he likes dipping pickles in peanut butter, or she’d run a mile in the opposite direction,” Max remarks, sounding satisfied with himself.
“Fuck off,” I mumble under my breath. I do love my brothers, but sometimes the piss-taking is too much, especially when you’re looking for helpful advice.
Nathan rests his hand on my shoulder and offers encouraging words.
“Don’t leave without getting her number, and this time, don’t write it down, save it directly in your phone.
It’s not like it matters because you already know where she works.
What I’m saying is don’t let her get away this time.
” He gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze, as if urging me to pursue what I want.
Since Dad is no longer here to help me with the big and small things, I appreciate Nathan stepping into that role.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he says, pushing his chair back, “my wife needs me.”
I bet she does. Those two have become inseparable.
Max is next to leave, announcing that he needs to call Paige, then Eli excuses himself and walks straight over to Sapphire, who immediately starts talking to him at a million miles an hour, smiling up at him with hearts in her eyes.
It makes me happy to know my brothers are happy.
I think, maybe, I deserve that too, and I sigh to myself because love and relationships for me have never come easy.
I think Yasmine is living proof of that. The path hasn’t exactly been smooth.
Surveying the room, I straighten my spine, hyperaware that Yasmine isn’t anywhere to be seen.
Where the hell did she go?
Panic crawls into my veins, my eyes darting everywhere.
Fuck! I can’t believe I let her get away again.
But then, from behind me, a sweet voice I’ve committed to memory floods me with relief as she teases, “Hey, Flyguy.”