Page 34 of Until

"Ryan! My boy, I can't believe you're here. How long has it been?"

His eyes shift over to Carina, and he bows clumsily before her.

"I had no idea I was having royalty as guests tonight."

Carina giggles.

“Rocky, this is Carina Cameron. Carina, meet Rocky.”

“It’s a pleasure,” he says as he takes her hand and kisses it with another bow.

Rocky motions for us to go into a booth, but I have other plans.

"No, Rocky, I thought we would do this like the good old days." I turned to Carina. "Do you mind sitting at the counter?"

"No, not at all."

I love that she's so easy-going. Tonight is going to be fun.

"The good old days, eh? Whatcha thinking?” Rocky asks.

“I’m going to make us a couple of burgers and fries."

“Oh yeah? The Stirling Special? You sure you still got it in you?” Rocky turns to Carina. “Has he told you about his adventures in cooking?"

Carina shakes her head.

"I really don't know much about him at all,” she says.

"I intend to change that,” I say.

While I’m in the kitchen cooking the cheeseburgers and fries, Rocky keeps Carina company. I can hear them exchanging war stories from working in restaurants.

As I step out of the kitchen, carrying the two plates of food, I notice Carina sipping a milkshake; her mask is on the counter.

Her eyes are almond-shaped, something I couldn't appreciate before with the mask on. Her nose is delicate. Even with the makeup on, I can see she has a natural peaches and cream complexion. She’s even more beautiful than I imagined.

I set the plates down and sit down beside her as Rocky disappears back into the kitchen.

We eat in silence for a moment, but I can tell something is troubling her.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Umm, it’s Ryan, right?”

My eyes widen as I realize we never exchanged names. Usually, people recognize me right away, but so far, she doesn’t seem to. I had been dreading telling her my name because of that. Everything so far had been so fantastic; what if she’s just another gold digger after my inheritance?

“I’m so sorry. Everything moved so quickly that I forgot to introduce myself properly. I’m Ryan Stirling.”

I wait for recognition to spread across her face, but nothing changes in her expression. Slowly, I notice her jaw begins to tighten, and her brow knits together as her eyes narrow.

“How do you know my name?” she asks, her voice bordering on anger. “I didn’t give it to you.”

“No, you didn’t. And I know how this sounds, but like I said, I have been trying to find you since the last ball. I saw the car you got into last time was a rental, the same as tonight’s car, so I tracked that down.”

I stop my story to see what kind of reaction she’s going to give me. She places her hand on my arm and smiles.

“That doesn’t sound bad. It’s sweet. Honestly? I was wondering if I would ever see you again. I didn’t think I would ever get to go to the ball again.”

---