Page 29 of Love Unexpected
Except, the back patiowasn’tempty.
Rosie sat at one of the picnic tables, her cheek pressed against the tabletop and her eyes closed. I paused, not wanting to wake her if she’d fallen asleep, but she must have heard me approach.
She sat up, her eyes widening like I’d startled her.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. There’s not usually anyone out here.”
“No, no, you’re fine,” she said, offering me a warm smile. “I was just... breathing.”
“Something I generally recommend.” I lowered myself onto the bench across from her. “Is everything okay?”
She shrugged. “I...I think so. Just a weird morning, is all.”
I pursed my lips in mock consternation. “Is it your boss? I’ve heard he’s a monster.”
She chuckled. “Absolutely. He’s the literal worst.”
I winced dramatically. “That’s too bad. You know, I’ve heard the same thing from a lot of people. From what everyone is saying, his only saving grace is that he’s really handsome. So even though his personality is the complete pits, people keep him around because he’s pretty on the TV.”
She laughed, her smile brightening her entire face and making her eyes sparkle. “You’re terrible.”
“Ha,” I said. “There it is. I knew I could make you smile.”
“Mission accomplished, huh?”
“I do my best.”
There was something supremely satisfying about pulling a smile out of Rosie, especially since I could tell she’d been feeling down about something. I generally liked to make people happy no matter the person or the situation. But the smile Rosie had just given me? It was worth a thousand smiles from strangers.
Which didn’t make any sense. Rosie was a friend. Almost more like a friend of a friend. Unless we were hanging out with our mutual friends, we didn’t really talk.
So why had her smile done such strange things to my heart? It left me feeling uneasy. And a little like fleeing. But I tamped down the urge. Just because I noticed the woman had a nice smile didn’t mean she was anything more than a friend. Jade had great hair. And Diedre had nice skin. Noticing those things didn’t mean anything. It was fine for me to notice that Rosie had a nice smile.
Wasn’t it?
Chapter Eleven
Rosie
It was the weirdest sensation for Isaac to both feel completely familiar to me and utterly foreign at the same time. I knew this man. We’d been chatting every night for almost a month, and yet, we’d spent very little actual time together in person. It was my turn to speak, but I was afraid to say anything. What if I ended up mentioning something that Ana knew, but Rosie didn’t know? But then,Rosiehardly knew anything at all. I just needed to act like I was sitting across the picnic table from a stranger.
And yet, Isaacwasn’ta stranger. My heart knew that. I was bad at words when my heart and mind were in agreement. I had no idea how I was supposed to manage my brain doing one thing while my heart did something else entirely.
I took a slow, deep breath quietly enough that I hoped Isaac wouldn’t notice. He still looked at me with his penetrative gaze, his eyebrows lifted in expectation.Right. I still hadn’t said anything. What had he said again? Something about his best? About making people smile?
“It’s your gift, I think,” I said, almost without thinking. “Making other people feel good.”
He studied me closely, his expression contemplative. “Thanks. I think sometimes it makes people think I’m just silly all the time. That I can’t be serious.”
“I don’t think you seem that way at all. You definitely have a fun-guy vibe, but...fun guys can be serious, too. And I mean, youarean entertainer. It’s your job to make people happy. You have to be serious about that.”
His eyebrows went up. “Serious about making people happy?”
I shrugged. “Exactly.”
I pursed my lips, suddenly itching to ask the question I’d been pondering for the past half hour. After our last instant message conversation, I’d been trying to process all kinds of things. “Is it worth it?” I asked. “The fame?”
He thought for longer than I expected. Somehow, I’d thought his answer would come as swiftly as his smiles.
