Page 36 of Blindly Yours

“Yeah, well I’ve always had a way with words,” I wink.

She laughs. “So, what do you guys talk about?”

I stir my Sprite. “We’ve talked about some really deep stuff, actually.”

Junie waits, and I’m not sure I want to tell her the details yet. I don’t want to jinx the good feeling I have about him. But I also kind of want to know what she thinks.

“He was married,” I decide to admit.

She raises a brow. “How long ago?”

“Two years.” I take a sip and look Junie in the eye. “She died.”

“God, that’s horrible.” She looks shaken.

“Yeah, and honestly, something like that would usually scare me away, but he seems like he really has healed. He’s super well-spoken—er,written—and he’s really sweet. He’s just ready to start over and I can’t imagine how hard that must be. But I don’t know, I just have a good feeling about him.”

Junie crosses one foot over the other and tucks her hair behind her ear. “Well, youarelooking for something serious. And it sounds like he’s already no stranger to commitment.”

“I really like him, Junie. I know it’s weird. I don’t even know what he looks like. But he feels more real than even anyone I’ve actually dated.”

She stares at me for a moment, chewing on her lip. “Well, I sure hope he’s hot, or else this will be anticlimactic.”

I smirk. “He’s over six foot.”

“That’s a good start.” She nods.

“Would you like to dance?” A deep voice speaks from behind me, right next to my ear.

I turn hesitantly to see an unfamiliar pair of brown eyes attached to an average-looking man. His crooked smile is doing its best job to entice me, but I find myself frowning. My eyes find the crisp collar of his white Italian cotton shirt and travel down to his neatly cuffed sleeves and exposed forearms before landing on his gold-plated Rolex. It reminds me a bit of George’s. My mother would probably die of happiness if I brought this man home.

Yet, I find myself shaking my head. “No, thank you.”

His face falls, but he tries to hide it. “Oh, that’s ok. But my friend and I would still like to buy you both drinks.” He eyes Junie and smiles, and then he tugs the shirt sleeve of the man next to him, who’s been preoccupied with ordering at the bar. And as he pulls him into view, my heart drops.

I press my fingers to the bridge of my nose. “Dammit, Malcolm…how come every time I turn around—”

His eyes widen and he raises his hands in innocence. “I had no idea you’d be here, Rose. Promise.”

I groan and turn back to my drink. “My mother put you up to this, didn’t she?”

“No, I promise. Aaron and I were just bar hopping. I didn’t even realize it was you. Did you do something different to your hair?” He reaches his hand toward it.

I push him away. “No.”

Junie steps between us to signal to the bartender. “Can we please close our tabs?”

Aaron looks at me. “You know Malcolm?”

“Yeah, we dated last year,” I sigh.

Aaron raises his brows. “What happened?”

I glance at Malcolm, who shoots me a death glare. I bite my lip, holding back an evil smirk. I wonder if his friend knows he’s a cheater. The sad reality is, he probably doesn’t care, so I shake my head. “It just didn’t work out.”

Aaron nudges Malcolm. “I think you missed out, man…”

The bartender passes our credit cards back and then Junie pulls me away from the bar. “C’mon, let’s go.”

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