With a fresh t-shirt on, I took a deep breath, left the office, and headed through the packed restaurant towards table forty. Not waiting for an invitation, I sat down in the empty chair next to my mystery girl. Whatever conversation she’d been having with her friend immediately died as I sat.

“Hey,” she uttered, turning a little shy in comparison to before. “That didn’t take you long.”

“Nope,” I answered, strumming my hands on the table. Her shyness seemed to have a direct effect on my own, and I tried my best to ignore it, as I wasn’t a shy person, and carried on with the conversation. She had a half-eaten sandwich in front of her, so I figured I was interrupting. But she didn’t seem to mind. Neither did the friend. Actually, I knew her friend. I went to high school with her. “Kimberly Whittle,” I said aloud.

“Hi, Rhett,” she said. “How’s it going?”

“Going great. I heard you and Cody Melbourne were dating. Small world, huh?”

“We are,” Kimberly confirmed. “Been about five months now. We’re just finishing up here,” she gestured to the table and their food. “I’m going to go hit the ladies room and then Cody should be here to pick me up soon. If you see our server, could you get her to bring the check?”

“Sure thing,” I said.

Kimberly, kind of stumbling in the process, stood up from the table. Then, with a face full of determination, she marched off across the room in the direction of the bathrooms. She’d clearly had a couple drinks tonight, and I wasn’t sure if she’d make it on her own. She might fall in the toilet or something.

“Aren’t you going to follow her?” I asked my girl. “Don’t girls normally have to go to the bathroom in pairs?”

“Not all girls. I’m sure she’ll survive.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“She’s fine.” She gave me a small smile. “I hope.”

I hardly knew what else to say. I was too freaking nervous. I knew nothing about this girl, and still, I had the most profound desire to try to learn absolutely everything I could about her. One kiss two years ago was not supposed to do that to a person. I knew what I wanted—her—but didn’t know where to start or how much of myself I should let show. My personality was what some people would call ‘strong.’ My mouth didn’t know when to quit, and sometimes that rubbed people the wrong way. With most women, the better option was usually to try to keep things simple. Flirting, foreplay, and getting to the physical stuff were all much easier for me. But, perhaps for the first time ever, I wanted to have a real conversation instead of something that led to getting naked. Now…if only I knew how to do that.

“Are you okay?” she wanted to know.

I guess my nervousness was showing

“Um.” I cleared my throat. My palms were sweaty and my body felt like it was jacked up on adrenaline. Get your shit together, Rhett. “I’m fine. I was just thinking about the second half of your sandwich,” I lied. “I think it has my name on it.”

Oh Lord help me, I suck.

That hadn’t been what I was thinking at all, but the words just sort of popped out. I should have been starving, as I hadn’t eaten anything in hours, but food wasn’t a concern at the moment.

“It’s all yours,” she said, pushing her plate over.

So with her watching, and thinking God knows what, I forced myself to take a bite. Yeah…I needed to relax or I was probably going to choke, both literally and figuratively. Reminding myself that she’d been the one to approach me earlier, I chewed, swallowed, and tried to regain my composure.

“You still want to do something with me tonight?” I asked between bites. “Or are you changing your mind right this very second?”

She smiled. “No, I haven’t changed my mind.”

Instantly, I relaxed. “Good.”

A second later, Kimberly returned. “Cody is here,” she announced. She was giggly and excited, and whether it was for herself or for my girl, she was ready to leave—now. The bill was settled with the server and then the three of us headed out into the parking lot where Cody was waiting. Kimberly hopped immediately into his car. This led me to assume that my green-eyed girl was definitely planning on staying behind with me, no questions asked, no bullshit games. Which was fine with me. I wanted her all to myself.

“Alright,” Kimberly chirped, “You better be nothing less than a gentleman with my friend. You hear me, Rhett? I’ll come chop off your balls if I hear anything bad. I mean it.”

“Got it,” I promised.

A second later, after a few whispered words between the girls, Cody peeled out of the parking lot with Kimberly, leaving me and Green Eyes all alone. Now that it was just the two of us, we lingered by the front doors of the restaurant. Awkwardly, I might add. One of the street lights was out and it was abnormally dark. The soft sound of the ocean and the muffled noise from the bar played in the background. Neither of us said anything for a few long moments.

“So,” I finally said.

“So,” she repeated. She kicked at a bottle cap on the ground, her soft hair blowing in the breezy humid air. “There’s something I need to tell you.” She stopped kicking and looked up at me.

“Okay.” Hopefully your name.

A sigh left her lips.

Or not...

She rubbed her hands over her forearms and then crossed her arms over her chest like it was cold outside. It wasn’t cold. The temperature pushed ninety degrees. “Something bad happened,” she admitted, her voice a little wobbly. “Something I’m having trouble getting over. You made me feel better once before and that’s why I came back. I need that feeling again. I need you to help me again.”

My stomach dropped, like I literally felt like I could vomit right here on the pavement. My head played out the worst scenarios, scenarios I did not want to imagine her in. Seriously, I was ready to kill and I didn’t even know exactly what had happened. “Someone hurt you,” I grunted, the heat in me rising. “Motherfucker. I’ll—”

“No—no! God no, not like that. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think that. Someone died.”

“Oh,” I breathed in relief. I still ached for her and for her loss, but I was thankful she hadn’t been hurt in the way I’d been thinking. “Sorry for my language, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to swear like that in front of you. And I’m sorry for your loss too. Was it recent?”

“A few months ago.”

These big, kind of adorable, tears formed in her eyes. She wiped them away, making them disappear just as fast as they’d appeared. The kiss we’d shared in the past had resonated with me, obviously, but I learned then that it must have had a pretty strong effect on her as well. She wouldn’t have sought me out as the person to make her feel better if it hadn’t. So I did what I was known for, and gave her the exact thing she’d come to me for—the physical stuff.

I’d spent my late teens perfecting this sort of shit. It always starts with a simple touch and a compliment. So reaching up, I carefully fingered the end of her blonde hair. It felt like silk against my skin, which did nothing for my nerves. “Your hair is lighter than I remember,” I whispered, moving in a little closer

“I know.” She didn’t pull away.

“It’s beautiful now, but I think I liked your natural color even better.”

“Really?” Her eyes narrowed in disbelief. “You’re bullshitting me.”

“No, I’m being honest.” My hand, still kind of tangled in her hair, moved to touch her face. Her eyes were locked on mine, and I stroked my thumb across her chin then over her lips. The red stuff on them didn’t even smudge with my touch. I sure as hell hoped that shit wasn’t permanent. “I don’t like this at all.”

“My lipstick?” she questioned. “But it’s Tom Ford.”

“Yeah, I don’t have a damn clue what that means. All I know is that you don’t need it.”

“Your backward compliments are kind of aggravating.” Her cheeks flushed pink and she placed her hand against my chest, almost as if she wanted to push me away, but she didn’t push me anywhere. “But in some weird way, at the same time, they’re also kind of sweet.”