Page 18 of Elusion

A girl’s pushing open the glass door on my way in. She smiles when I grab the handle and hold it for her. She pauses, half-in and half-out, her eyes on me. She’s seriously misinterpreting my polite gesture. I’m being a gentleman, not proposing marriage. She finally perceives my lack of interest and releases me from door duty.

Felicia answers my knock with a grin. Happy-all-the-time people really exist—at least one anyway. She invites me in and returns to her blanket on the couch. I’m getting used to finding Callie in her room and almost miss her curled up on the opposite end of the cushions. The sight of me triggers an eye roll, and she presses a button on the remote to resume whatever they’re watching on the TV.

“I was driving by and thought—”

The volume on the TV increases until it drowns out my voice. Callie raises her hand to her ear, indicating she can’t hear me.

Cute.

I try again, raising my voice louder only for her to crank the volume more.

She mouths,What?

The girl has jokes, but if she thinks this will deter me, she’s dead wrong. It only furthers my desire to win. I walk over to her end of the couch and lean down. In a normal voice, I recite the alphabet. Her eyebrows pull in as she studies my lips, trying to read them.

“Mary Had a Little Lamb” comes next.

It takes until midway through “Humpty Dumpty” for her finger to hit the button and pause the TV. Hearing my nursery rhyme, she smiles the most amazing smile. She reins it in, fighting off the rogue facial expression within a few seconds, but it’s too late. My work’s already done.

“Do you need anything?” I ask, still eye-level with her.

She shakes her head, unbothered by our proximity. My gaze drops to her lips. Shit. I really want to kiss her. But I force myself to straighten up. I’ve made progress, and I am not about to get slapped.

“All right, beautiful, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Come prepared,” she says. “Felicia and I bet double or nothing.”

Of course they did.

I sigh, pulling out my wallet. “Here. Take my money now.”

Felicia quickly relieves me of the twenty in my hand. Callie presses her lips together, trying to hide her amusement. She knows how to play the game. And me, which is a somewhat unnerving thought.

Screw it. If she wants to keep taking my money, then I’ll keep kissing her on the damn forehead. Her eyes widen when I lean down again and press my lips to her skin. When I pull away, she rolls her eyes. I roll mine back but more dramatically. As soon as her mouth starts to turn up at the corners, I head for the door. I’ve earned a new all-time high score for smiles.

A record I plan on breaking tomorrow.

“Bacon ciabatta and two large coffees, both with an extra shot.”

A kid at the counter of the coffee place grimaces. “We’re out of those.”

Shit. I forgot a backup plan. “Do you have anything like it?”

“We have one that’s basically the same.”

“Yes!” I’m entirely too enthusiastic over a breakfast sandwich.

“It’s turkey sausage though. And it’s on a bagel with different cheese.”

“Do they taste similar?” I ask.

“Turkey and bacon?”

“Fair point. Do the turkey sausage one then.”

He shuffles away but circles right back. “I guess we have a bacon one.”

“Great. I want that one.”

---