Page 111 of The Enemy Face Off

"Firstly, I'll remind you that I'm a weirdo. And secondly…I honestly don't know. But I was intrigued by you from the moment you squinted at me from across the diner and muttered something I'm assuming was disparaging about me to your friends."

She drops her head. "Oh."

"And thirdly…" I reach across the table and take her hand in mine. "I'm a weirdo."

"You already said that."

"Weirdos have a tendency to repeat themselves."

She draws in a breath, and when she looks up at me, her hazel eyes are glistening. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"For…for completely misjudging you and for acting like…Well, I won't say the word, but it rhymes with witch."

"A stitch?"

That brings a small smile to her lips. "Yeah. Sorry for being such a massive stitch."

"Well, thank you. But to be honest with you, I like it." I pause and take her in for a moment. "You've always been real with me, Beth. You've never hidden your feelings or been dishonest about what you want from me. I appreciate that. I respect that. I respectyou."

"There's a difference between being open about your feelings and being downright mean and not nice."

"Eh, it's a fine line. I knew you'd come around eventually."

"You did?"

"Uh-huh."

"How?"

I've got two options here.

Option one, I make some crack about how my charming personality and good looks were bound to win her over. But that would set us off on another round of inevitable sparring, which, as much as I love, that's not what this moment calls for.

So I go with option two.

Honesty.

"Life is unexpected. I never thought I'd wind up with two kids. Or that I fall for someone snarky, who hates hockey and man buns, and teases me mercilessly. But both things have happened." I reach across the table and slide my gift out of the way for the moment. "May I?"

"Yes."

I wrap my fingers around hers and instantly feel my chest expand. "Something happened the night we met, Beth. I was struck with a feeling…I…I can't explain it very well. All I know isthat it's the same feeling I got when I saw Josie and Jonah for the first time. It felt right even though I didn't know you. Maybe it's…"

I trail off.

There is no way I can say what I was about to say. Forget cutesy, this would be hurtling into cheesy territory at a thousand miles an hour.

"What? Say it?" She aims those hazel eyes I'm a sucker for at me and murmurs, "Please."

I take a breath. "Promise you won't tease me about it?"

"Never."

"That's what I thought." Okay, here goes my dignity. "I was going to say, maybe it's the feeling you get when you meet your soulmate. You see someone you've never met before but your soulknows. It knows they're a good person. It knows they're the right fit for you. It knows they're worth all the roadblocks and challenges they put up in your way."

She's not laughing at me, so I finish with, "I had that feeling when I met you, Beth. And it's only grown the more we've gotten to know each other."

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