Page 7 of You Had Me At No
He laughs. “Kitty, anyone could do what I just did. I don’t charge people for jumping their vehicles and definitely not you.”
“Kitty? That’s a new one.”
“Yep, always keeping you on your toes.”
“Okayyyy, well thank you for not charging me. I would offer you free coffee, but you’re already getting that now.” I shrug my shoulder and click my teeth with my tongue.
“I would say payment enough would be you giving me your number, but lucky me, I already have it.” He grins, then pauses for a few seconds. “Now that you mention it, I take it back. You can pay me.”
I cut my eyes at him. “You just said you don’t take payment for that sort of thing.”
“Yeah, I did. But I changed my mind. Go out on a date with me.” His smile brightens.
“Absolutely not. I’m not a prostitute.” My eyes bug out.
He coughs. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I did not say I wanted you to fuck me for payment. I just said I want to take you out on a date.” He places his hand over mine on the center console. The way he says fuck makes me want to fuck.
Fuck.
I look down at where our hands are touching and quickly pull away. “I’m sorry. I can’t do that.” I look at the clock. “Fuck, I’m going to be late.”
He nods. “Okay, let me detach everything and you can be on your way.”
A few minutes later, he has everything put up. He closes my hood and I roll down my window as he comes up to it. He puts a hand on the roof, patting it like they do in those old films. He ducks down so that he’s at eye level with me. “Good to go. Be careful and if you need anything else, don’t hesitate to call.”
I smile at him. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.” He stares at me for a beat and pats the top of my car. “I’m not giving up. I know you want to give in. You’re living in denial, and that’s okay. But eventually, you’ll say yes and I promise you won’t regret it.” He smirks at me.
My heart picks up a beat. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
He laughs. “Good night, my little coffee bean.”
“Night.” I playfully roll my eyes and laugh as I pull off.
I see him watching me when I glance in the rearview mirror and drive away.
Liam
I’ve run toThe Ugly Mugevery day for the past week and it’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day, minus the hot coffee being spilled on me, thankfully. It’s the same old routine: I walk in and find Quinn, give her a random mind-fuck quote of the day, and ask for a date. Of course I get rejected, so I wait at the table to receive my coffee and donut. I’ll sit and drink my coffee afterstuffing my face with the donut. The feeling of being a failure fuels my run home.
Once I’m home, I work on Cameron’s truck and then go to bed exhausted every day. Something has to fucking change before I rip out all my hair. I sit on the edge of the bed and pull at the strands attached to my scalp to ease the stress I’m currently feeling. “Think, THINK,” I yell at myself. I stand up to pace, my arms crossed over my chest. “What the fuck would she want…” I say out loud. “Perfect!” I exclaim. The idea that just popped into my head is unmatched.
Two hours later, I have twenty tabs open with different vintage resellers pulled up. Do you know how hard it is to find fucking old crazy-looking cat pictures? I pull out my card and purchase each one I’ve found.
Shehasto go on a date with me now. How can a girl say no to this handsome face and a buttload of cat pictures to stare creepily at her customers?
Three weeks, forty-two coffees, donuts, and rejections later, I have a fuck ton of creepy-looking cat pictures sitting in my little room. This woman is so worth every strange dream I’ve had since they started arriving.
I figured they’d take longer to arrive, but it didn’t. Although, I’m convinced at least one of them is haunted.
The dreams are WEIRD. Whatever to make her happy, as long as they don’t end up in our house when she gives in and decides she’s desperately in love with me.
I gather all the paintings and haul ass down my stairs. I get in the car to visit her for once, opting out of trying to run miles with all this shit. I skirt out of the driveway and down the street to gosee my girl. She obviously hasn’t agreed to be my girl, but she’smine.No one else is allowed to get close to her or Imaygo a little crazy.
“Oh, Smoochie Poo,” I holler when I swing open the coffee shop door. I make a big show about it: throw a leg out, and open the door as wide as possible to get her attention, but I also gather the attention of every other patron enjoying their coffee. I can see Quinn turning red from across the room, and I snap to attention.
“Uh, hi,” I say to everyone who is now making weird faces at me.
