Page 69 of Up All Night

“Do you always make such a big breakfast in the mornings? I pictured you as a coffee-on-the-go kind of guy.” She put another piece of waffle in her mouth.

I swallowed my food before answering. “No, I am usually a protein-shake-on-the-go kind of guy. Then I get coffee once I’m at the office.”

Her gaze studied me. “You probably have an assistant who gets it for you.”

I gave her a sheepish grin. “Yeah, Courtney is great at fulfilling all my needs.”

She paused, a bite halfway to her mouth as one of her brows pulled up.

Crap. Why did I always say things wrong in front of her? I swear, only a couple of years ago, I had major game. I’d either lost it from lack of use, or Halle had a way of rattling me so my words came out all wrong.

I hurried to correct my poor word usage. “Uh, I mean myofficeneeds, not any other kind of needs.”

She smiled and finished taking her bite. “That’s good to know.”

Once she’d finished her waffle, she leaned back in her chair with her hand on her stomach. “Okay, now I’m glad we went on that run.”

“That almost sounded like a thank you.” I picked up both our plates and put them in the sink.

“Fine. I guess it wasn’t too bad once we got going,” she said. “And I am thankful that it’s over.”

I smiled and shook my head at her. “So you’re saying you’re not going to keep being my running buddy on Saturdays?”

I’d meant it as a joke, but now that it was out there, it seemed like I was serious. Not that I wouldn’t enjoy running with her again, but it sounded like I was escalating our friendship too quickly.

She rested her head in her palm, an exaggerated look of disappointment on her face. “If only I didn’t teach that spin class on Saturday mornings.”

This caused a real laugh to come out of me. “Yeah, that’s too bad.”

We made our way out to my car, and soon we arrived at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. The parking lot was almost full, and I was glad I had planned to come in the morning before it got even busier.

We entered through the main gate and randomly decided to take the left route, passing through the Takamine Garden first.

My hand itched to grab hers and walk through the gardens hand in hand, but instead I shoved my hands in my pockets. I didn’t trust them when it came to Halle, that they wouldn’t somehow wander over and take her hand in mine.

Halle looked at the scenery on either side of the path. “I’ve never been here before.”

“This is only my second time,” I said. “I remember coming here with my mom and sister when I was fourteen and thinking it was pretty cool.”

“Was little fourteen-year-old West a planner too?” she asked with a teasing glint in her eye.

I chuckled. “I was just an amateur back then, only planning the big things like homework due dates and what girl I was going to ask out.”

She laughed, and her bubbly laughter had me smiling. I liked making her laugh. Her whole face lit up, and I couldn’t help wanting to join in.

She peeked a glance at me as we walked. “I’m assuming you dated a lot of girls in your youth.”

“I don’t know if I would say a lot.” I didn’t want her thinking I had been some kind of player. I’d dated a lot of different girls until halfway through my junior year of high school when I’d gotten a girlfriend. “I dated here and there until I had a girlfriend later in high school.”

“How long did you date?” she asked.

“A year and a half. We broke up at the end of summer before I started college at Stanford.”

“Why?” she asked conversationally but also like she was interested in the answer.

How had this conversation gotten me talking about my previous dating life? It wasn’t a secret or anything, but the way things had ended with Abigail always left a bad taste in my mouth. I didn’t harbor any feelings for her anymore, but I still should have handled it better.

“Um.” Taking one of my hands out of my pocket, I rubbed the back of my neck. “Like I said, I was headed to Stanford, and she wanted to take a gap year to travel and figure out what she wanted to do. She wasn’t interested in going to college and wanted to take a different path for her life.” We came to a fork in the path and chose to go left again. “My dad had plans for me. I was to go to Stanford and graduate with my MBA to join him at Vanderhall Capital. Me having a girlfriend who was off traveling and not going to college, not taking life seriously—that wasn’t part of his plan.

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