Page 151 of Hello Stranger

First of all, I wasn’t seeing Joeagain.

I can’t even capture how mind-bending it is to see someone for the very first time—and recognize him.

I mean, I hadkissedthis guy! Twice!

But I’d never seen him before.

A memory of Joe’s naked torso as he threw me down on my bed rumbled through my memory like thunder.

I shook it off. Fine, fine—I’d seen him but hadn’t seen him. It was a brain glitch. Not news. We got it.

But here’s whatwasshocking: how dreadfully good-looking he was.

He didn’t just have a face. He had a really, really good one.

Strong, straight features. Angles and edges. A chin! An Adam’s apple! Plus a nose, two eyes, and—here, a close-up memory flashed through my mind—that mouth.

Astonishing.

And dreamy. And heartbreaking.

And… the opposite of fun. Given thathe’d already dumped me and broken my heart.

My awareness of his attractiveness—and the fireworks of longing it was setting off in my body—came into focus and permeated everything I saw before I’d had time to tell my fusiform face gyrusno. I mean, the man had a silk pocket square! And he could tie a double Windsor knot! And that blue suit! It looked so good, it made me angry. No one should ever be allowed to look that good in a suit.Who tailored that thing?

Agony.

Mr. Kim must have said something funny then, because Joe smiled and looked down. I stared, mesmerized, at the scruff of his neck as he leaned forward and nodded. He shook hands one more time and then turned to join the party, walking a few steps before I looked away.

But seeing a few of Joe’s steps were enough.

Confirmed: Definitely Joe. With that heartbreaking gait.

No wonder I’d fallen for him so hard.

“Just ignore him,” Sue said—watching me watch him—like,You got this.“And stay close to me.”

Ignore him. Ignore him.

Sue took my hand then and walked me over to her very dashing cousin, Daniel. She gestured back and forth between us. “Daniel? Sadie. Sadie? Daniel.”

Daniel was faceless, but he had great hair.

Sue went on. “Sadie is my best friend, and she has a situation tonight, so I’m putting you in charge of flirting with her for the rest of the party.”

And Daniel, bless him, gave a no-problem nod and said, “You got it.”

Sue was, of course, the star of the evening—so staying close to her was easier said than done. Fortunately, Daniel was happy to adopt me, and he took me all around, introducing me to his cousins and friends. So I spent the hors d’oeuvres portion of the evening nursing a glass of champagne and heartily doing that thing where you never, ever look at the only person you want to look at.

That thing where you pretend to not even be aware of the only person you’re aware of.

That thing where you give an Oscar-level performance of being totally,utterly, blissfully fine because the person watching you from across the party never kissed you senseless and then broke your heart.

Did that even happen? Because you sure as hell don’t remember it.

You’re too fabulous to remember it. You and your ruffly dress and your flirty new rooftop companion are far, far too awesome for a thing like being dumped—and then ghosted and then treated with contempt—to even matter.

Daniel turned out to be highly accomplished at flirting—and then it didn’t take that long before his face delighted me by coming into focus.

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