Page 9 of Somebody To Love

“I didn’t see a ring.”

“True. Thanks for checking.”

“No problem.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out. We kayaked. We canoed. We even rented pedal boats and had a great time going around in circles, neither one of us were very effective leaders, apparently. I didn’t know I could feel so depleted by being out in the sun. Around the time the sun was setting, we were both exhausted having spent the whole day on the water.

Meredith promptly fell asleep once we got back to our room. I tried to take a nap too, but I was a terrible napper. Bored, I decided to pick up a sandwich from the deli I had noticed near the front desk. I took a look at Meredith. She was fast asleep. I assumed I would only be gone for a few minutes. I locked the door and made my way to the deli.

I was bending down staring at the different sandwiches available. They all looked good, or maybe I was just hungry. After all, Meredith and I had skipped breakfast and forgotten about lunch because we had both been having too much fun to think about food.

“Hmmm, avocado sounds delicious…. or do I want turkey?”

“I’m partial to the avocado, actually,” said a voice behind me.

I turned around partially and smiled. Immediately, I straightened up. It was Brock. He smiled back at me.

“Or you could try to mix it up, maybe have a little turkey with avocado on the side.”

“That sounds good,” I said, smiling at him. He really was a beautiful man. This time he had on a shirt and I felt a little disappointed.

To my surprise, he caught me checking him out and immediately called me out on it. “I decided to join civilization and put on clothes.”

“I got to admit, I prefer you uncivilized.”

He grinned. “That could be arranged.”

“A flirtatious librarian… and people say librarians are boring.”

“Trust me. I’m definitely not boring.” He leaned on the counter and said, “So where’s your precocious niece?”

“Sleeping.”

“There’s a kids’ club here at the hotel, you know. Maybe you can let her enjoy herself there and we could get a drink later on tonight?”

“I think she would approve of that...”

“I would think so too, since she seems to be concerned about you being super single.”

We both laughed and I reached for my sandwich. “Put it on my tab, Sinclair.” He said to the cashier who nodded. He was on a first name basis with the cashier? I guess Brock was a very friendly person or he visited often.

“Thanks for the sandwich and I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

“How’s eight?”

“Works for me.”

“Eight it is,” he said, turning away from me.

I walked away with pep in my step. I was doing great. I was asked out by probably the hottest man on Earth. Things were certainly looking up.

I made my way back to my room where I found Meredith watching TV.

“A sandwich? Great. I’m hungry.”

I handed it over and ignored the growling of my stomach. Meredith quickly began to devour it.

“So why do you look so happy suddenly?”