Page 36 of Eat Your Heart Out
18
Ali
The walk up the stairs made the whistling wind rush through me. The waves were bigger than they had been that morning. The crew was in full gear, packing up the pool stuff we’d used and anything not bolted down outside.
We stayed inside and grabbed seats in the library full of books.
He reached toward the side table between us then handed me my new computer. “So, I had your laptop brought here. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Why would I mind? What’s going on?”
He opened his laptop at the same time I did. “I want us to write a few more articles on places you’ve eaten in the past for the blog, together, right now.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Why now?”
He didn’t blink. “The hurricane turned. It’s best if we do this in case we lose Wi-Fi for a while.”
Of course I would help him, but I gazed to the crew again and wondered if we should be packing up the library. “It’s that serious?”
He shrugged. “We won’t get the brunt, but we’re in for some rough weather.”
I cringed at the idea of danger, but I also realized I didn’t want to run from him either. Leaving wasn’t the right thing to do, and he made me believe I was valuable, so I took his hand. “And we’re not escaping with your helicopter or something?”
“No, but I was wishing I’d bought the superyacht that turned into a submarine.”
My eyes widened. I had zero clue how the other half lived, and I let out a giggle. “Wait. What?”
He opened the blog to the log-in page. “I liked this one better, with the two helipads, but I’d been tempted.”
And I lived on the brink of starvation if I didn’t show up to work. I shook my head. “Rich people live in a different world.”
He then opened up a blank post. “So, I wanted to write about how we met and how you brought me to the Burger Shack without revealing who I am. Maybe say we tried a pizza place instead. That’s a keyword I don’t normally target.”
Damn, he made me believe in impossible things, like that I might be happy. I scooted closer to him. “So we’re writing a lie.”
He squeezed my hand. “No. Never. I wanted your help to craft this in your column as coauthors so we’re not writing one false thing.”
Maybe we would get the option to be more than friends. I would have to face myself eventually. I met his gaze. “Got it. You can start with how you picked up a stranger walking in the rain. No one but us is going to know that’s true.”
He started to write, and it made us sound like we were fated to meet. At least, I wanted to believe that, because it was too hard to run away. I was in for however long he wanted me.
