Page 66 of Lovesick
He offered a relaxed grin. His gaze had softened through the movie, losing its edge of intensity. My heart beat like a drum under my rib cage when he reached back, pulled his hair out of its bun, and let it fall to his shoulders. He normally wore it up, but now it rested around his face and cast shadows on the hollows of his cheeks. I could only stare at his sculpted face as something warm ignited in my belly.
His arms flexed as he ran his fingers through his hair, then pulled it back out of his face and turned to me again. When he looked at me, his expression had reverted to his usual careful amusement.
I swallowed hard.
But I thought that he, too, had some sort of uncertainty in his gaze. An uncertainty that, like mine, could mean he had some feelings for me. That my obsession wasn’t totally one-sided.
Maybe.
“Thank you for coming with me,” I whispered instead of shouting,Holy palm trees, kiss me right now!“I’ve been waiting for the movie to come out so I could rent it and watch with Bethie.”
His gaze dropped to my lips for half a second before they returned to mine. “Was this better?” he asked.
“Definitely.”
“My pleasure.” He smiled softly. “Really. Are you interested in some lunch before we head back?”
“Yes, please.”
He held out his hand. It was warm as it clasped mine, tugging me to my feet. It was no first kiss.
But his hand in mine sure felt good.
22
JJ
Iimagined what one of Lizbeth’s romance books might say about our impromptu date. I’d only read five of them so far—all of them different romance subgenres—but they all seemed somewhat the same.
For a date like this, I could imagine the books describing a rush of giddiness with butterflies. Or a feeling of some caution from one of us, likely her. Instead, she appeared to be an open book. Made eye contact. Smiled. Revealed no wariness or uncertainty.
Meanwhile,Ifelt a slice of euphoria and a deep sense offinallyas I stared at her across the table. And I had no idea why.
“I suck at this, Lizbeth,” I said, just to make my thoughts clear. “I haven’t been on a date in a long time.”
Her head tilted to the side. “Why don’t you go on dates?”
“What does the gossip around town say?”
A sly smile twitched on her lips. “That’s for me to know. Let’s face it, Mark is too in love with his career to date and—”
“He wants to.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Very much. Mark could almost be called a romantic, but all of his relationships fail to land. Just when they seem to be going somewhere, they die.”
“Why?”
“He’s had a hard time finding a girl who can handle his energy, I think. He’s erratic and so full of ideas it’s annoying. A lot of women find it...”
“Unstable?” she ventured.
I laughed. “Definitely that.”
“Well, gossip around the town speaks highly of both of you, if you must know. Of the two of you, you’re the more mysterious.”
At that, I laughed harder. Pineville had always beenverysmall. But then, we’d always given reasons for people to talk about us. “Good, I’m glad. And there are a lot of reasons I haven’t dated, but Stacey is the main one. And my parents’ divorce,” I tacked on with a grimace. “That hasn’t felt good.”
