Page 25 of Finding London

“I’m not sure yet,” he says as he opens the passenger door.

I hop up into the truck, and before he closes the door, I respond with, “It will be.”

A small smile crosses his face as my door closes.

As I watch him walk around the front of the truck, I can’t help but ponder how serious this is—the start of this relationship or whatever it is that I have with Loïc. This is only our fourth meeting, and each time has been so deep and intense. Maybe that’s part of the intrigue.

But one thing’s for sure. I’ve never met anyone like Loïc Berkeley before either.

We’re in the truck for about an hour before we reach our date destination—a drive-in movie theater.

The drive consisted of a comfortable conversation. Okay, so it mainly consisted of me talking about myself. Loïc isn’t a huge sharer, but lucky for us, I am. I told him about my parents, Georgia, and of course, Paige—my sister from another mister. I informed him of all the places where I lived before college. I talked about my ambition to be a journalist.

Now, we’re parked with the truck bed facing the giant movie screen. Loïc transformed the back of his truck into a comfortable lounging area. We’re seated on several fluffy blankets, and he brought a handful of pillows to lean against. He packed a cooler of food and drinks. It’s adorable. All he’s missing are the rose petals and candles, and it’d be perfection.

I’m sitting, cross-legged, watching Loïc get out the food. We have over an hour until it gets dark, and the movie starts.

He looks up from the cooler. “What are you smiling about?” he asks playfully.

“You,” I answer simply.

“What about me?” The corner of his mouth tilts up.

“All this.” I motion to our surroundings. “It’s so sweet. I’ve actually never been to a drive-in movie before.”

“Yeah, there aren’t too many left. I found this one on Google.” He puts our sandwiches on plates. “I remember going to one with my parents. I think we were living in South Carolina at the time. We packed a picnic, similar to this one.” His smile falters. “It’s a good memory.”

“It sounds like it.”

He hands me a plate of food. “So, is sweet a good thing?” he questions with an effort to sound nonchalant.

My heart hurts for him because, behind his tough-as-stone persona, I think he’s a pretty insecure person. I can’t wrap my mind around that because…well, he’s gorgeous.

“Um, yes, sweet is an amazing thing.”

I can see the relief on his face.

“You wanna know a secret?” he asks.

“Yes!” I answer a little too enthusiastically. I obviously want him to be a sharer, too—apparently, more than I knew. I crave to know everything there is to know about him.

He chuckles. “This is the first date I’ve ever been on.”

“What? No!” I practically shriek, which makes him smile.

He nods. “Yeah.”

“I don’t believe it,” I argue.

“It’s true.”

I shake my head. “How is that even possible? I mean, look at you!”Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have said that last part out loud.

“You, London, are my first date.”

Joy expands in my chest at being the first anything for Loïc, but I still don’t understand it. “Wow. I never would have guessed…” My thoughts trail off to the how and why of this scenario. “I can’t believe you’ve never been with a woman. It’s just—”

Loïc laughs in his deep timbre. “I didn’t say I’ve never been with a woman. I said I’ve never gone on a date.”

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