Page 6 of Forever my Love

“Who bullied you?” she asked, leaning back.

“Her name was Rebecca,” he said, making her laugh again.

“Oh, you’re serious?” she asked with a smile.

He nodded. “Found out in high school that Beckie, as she now likes to be called, had a serious crush on me at the time.”

“Of course she did.” Hailey sighed and glanced around, and he saw the spark in her eyes fade slightly. “I really like this place.”

He frowned. She was talking like she was going to miss it. As if she had no choice but to leave. He fought the urge to ask her if she was staying, but that was stupid. She hadn’t mentioned leaving.

“It’s better with you in it,” he said, kicking himself for not coming up with something better.

This time, instead of turning away from him or changing the subject, she ran her eyes over his face.

“Why do you do that?” she asked him.

“What?” he responded, not understanding her question. Was she asking him why he flirted with her or why he tried to compliment her?

“Why do you hang around here so much?” she asked.

His initial instinct was to joke about it. Then he decided to tell her the truth.

“Because you’re here,” he said simply. “Because there’s something between us that I’d like to explore. If you’re willing.”

She was quiet for so long that he wondered if she was going to respond at all.

“I’ve never… I haven’t… I don’t know what to say.” She finally threw up her hands and leaned back in the booth.

“You never what?” he asked, curious. Again, she was silent. “Had someone interested in you? Went on a date? Had a boyfriend?”

“All of it,” she admitted. “Any of it.”

He was stunned into silence.

“Now I’m embarrassed.” She buried her face in her hands.

“Don’t be.” He reached over and took her hands in his. He wanted to tell her it was okay, that he understood, but still, the questions flooded his mind. Why not? What had really happened to her and her sister that Hailey was twenty-one and had never gone on a date before?

Then he realized that he’d thought of tonight as a sort of date and immediately felt as if he’d cheated her somehow. If she hadn’t ever gone out on a date, then he could at least show her what dating really was supposed to be like.

“How about we start over?” He smiled. “Hailey, I’d like to take you out on a date.” He thought quickly. “How about this Friday evening?”

She frowned at him. “I have work.”

He leaned back as Carter delivered their pizza and chatted with Hailey for a moment.

She went from tense to relaxed in a heartbeat as she joked with her boss. Then Carter left, and as they each grabbed a slice, she asked, “What about this?”

“This?” he said between bites.

“Isn’t this sort of… like a date?”

He shrugged. “If you’ve never been out on a date, then when I take you out officially, I want to make sure you know it’s a date and not question it.”

She smiled. “Okay.”

“Okay?”