Page 6 of Passion and Deception

Every bit of happiness that had been bubbling inside of her for the past several hours in his company vanished abruptly, leaving her cold. No, not cold. Terrified.

She tried to hide the sudden quaver in her voice, but failed. “No. I don’t…I can’t…I just…!” She shook her head and started to back away.

“Maggie?” he prompted, his voice gentle and soothing. “Just write down the address to the restaurant, then.” He offered her one of the café’s paper napkins since the one she’d grabbed a moment ago had fluttered to the floor.

She breathed a sigh of relief, but she couldn’t hide the tremble in her fingers as she took the offered pen. Writing down the address, she handed both the napkin and the pen back to him. “What time works with your schedule?” she asked, still stiff and trying to push the nightmare from her past out of her mind.

He took the napkin, stuffing it into his pocket. “How about six o’clock?”

She sighed with relief. “Six o’clock is perfect!”

He smiled, tilting his head. “You seem relieved by the time. Why?”

She shrugged and gestured towards the doorway. “In the movies, it seems like the sophisticated time to eat dinner is eight o’clock.” She stepped through the door and held it until he came through. “However, on my days off, I’m usually in bed with a good book by eight o’clock.”

He smiled at her. “That sounds pretty nice.”

Someone bumped into her and she had to step out of the way as a group of school kids meandered through the hallway, obviously on a school field trip.

When they were relatively alone again, she looked up at him self-consciously. “Well, I’d better get going if we’re meeting up in a few hours.”

He nodded. “I look forward to tonight, Maggie,” he told her, then lifted her hand, kissing her fingertips. “Until tonight.”

Then he turned and walked away. Maggie watched him, fascinated with the man in ways she couldn’t define. She felt almost compelled to watch him until he turned the corner. Only then did she turn and walk…skip…towards the parking garage.

Chapter 2

Maggie stood at the edge of the crowd that was milling through the park. There was a line of food trucks parked along the curb, so their dinner options were vast and delicious.

But would he be here? She glanced at the time on her phone again. It was two minutes until six o’clock. “Stop panicking, Maggs,” she whispered to herself. However, her luck with men had been pretty miserable. Even her father was a ham-fisted jerk.

So, when she saw a tall, dark-haired man striding down the sidewalk, Maggie felt as if her heart might just float away. He was here! Wow! The man had actually shown up!

“You thought I wouldn’t come,” Ramit observed in a deep, husky voice as soon as he was within earshot.

“I had my doubts,” she admitted, hoping that the heat in her cheeks didn’t show. “In my experience, men aren’t necessarily reliable.”

“In what way?” he asked, taking her hand and tucking it onto his elbow as he started walking.

She snorted. “In every way.” She indicated her favorite food truck. “I know the chef that works that food truck. He has the most amazing tacos. The shrimp tacos are marinated in his own special chili lime sauce, which is incredibly delicious.”

Ramit looked in that direction, then nodded approvingly. “Shrimp tacos it is. And while we eat, you can explain how the men in your past have let you down.”

She smiled, but inside, her heart pounded dangerously at the concern in his eyes. Maggie silently reminded herself to calm down. Men were liars and cheaters and, often, worse. If she hadn’t experienced so many men lying and cheating on her, not to mention smacking her around whenever they had a bad day, then her job gave her ample evidence of men’s true intentions.

They ordered their shrimp tacos and she noticed Ramit eyeing the paper “bowl” suspiciously.

“I brought a blanket,” she explained, smothering her laughter as she hefted her backpack higher on her shoulder. “Why don’t we head out to the park to eat?”

Ramit dubious expression indicated that he didn’t think that the idea was good, but he nodded. “A picnic it is,” he finally replied, then grabbed the bag filled with chips and guacamole while she carried their drinks.

Once she found her favorite spot, she set the food down on the ground and spread out the blanket. “How’s this?” she asked, looking up at him hopefully.

“Perfect,” he replied, then waited until she sat down before taking a seat next to her.

“Okay, I know that your doubtful about the food, so be prepared to apologize for your misgivings,” she warned, popping a corn chip into her mouth.

He chuckled and the sound warmed her. He wore jeans and a soft-looking sweater tonight. If she hadn’t noticed his hesitation about the price of food at the museum earlier today, she might suspect that his sweater was cashmere. But since she knew that he wasn’t wealthy, the sweater was probably made from a cheaper acrylic yarn that only looked like more expensive cashmere.

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