Page 30 of The Luck of Finding You
Help is on the way!! Not me, my husband ordered pizza just before you texted so I’m busy. But help is coming. ;)
That can only mean one thing.
Noah. Noah is coming to save me from this horrible date. A date that Olivia no doubt told him I needed saving from.
And I thought this night couldn’t get any worse.
13
TALLY
“You okay there?” Luke asks, eyeing my knee that can’t seem to stay still. It’s been bouncing since I realized that Noah is on his way here to help me. I hoped for a moment that Olivia would have called one of the book club ladies to come and pretend there was a family emergency, but that winky face told me everything I need to know.
They brought our food about ten minutes ago, but I can’t bring myself to eat. Not when the smell of fresh fries keeps assaulting my senses every time I move. I take a breath and twist my hands in my lap to keep from grabbing one. I am incredibly jealous of the large basket of fries that sit in front of Ava.
I see Noah before he sees me—he’s walking through the restaurant looking for me. If I weren’t so mad about Olivia sending him, I might offer him a wave. Before I have the chance to actually do this, he calls my name and the chatter in the room dies.
I raise my hand, making me feel like a timid student who doesn’t actually want to share the answer with the class.
“You know that guy?” Luke asks, suddenly sitting up straighter. He flexes his arm as Noah approaches the table.
Is this guy for real?
“Tally, Olivia said I could find you here.” Noah only has eyes for me, which I appreciate because I really, really hope he doesn’t look at Peter and recognize him. “There was a bit of an accident at the shop, and she thought you should know about it, and you weren’t answering your phone, so I came instead. This your date?” Noah finally looks at Luke.
“Oh, what happened? And yes, this is Luke. He’s an old friend from high school.” I want to say,Look! I didn’t lie! I’m actually on a date! See! Me and a man, on a date!!
Then Noah does something I didn’t anticipate; he grabs a chair from a neighboring table and sits at the end of ours.
“Do I know you?” Peter asks him right as Luke says, “We’re on a date, man.”
Noah ignores both of them and continues to stare at me.
“A date, huh?” Noah’s still staring at me. “I thought you meant a date with a book.”
I swallow and take my time answering because that is truly the kind of date I wish I were on right now. “I do spend a lot of weekends doing just that, but then I saw that Luke was in town and thought I’d see if he wanted to get together.”
Now everyone at the table is staring at me.
“That’s not completely true,” Luke starts, but I ignore him. I have no idea what he was going to say because that’s exactly what happened.
“Is that so?” Noah says, looking between the two of us. “What do you like about him?” Noah clasps his hands in front of him on the table as if we’re in some sort of job interview that I know I’m about to fail. This isn’t a job I even want, let alone one I would get.
“He’s good-looking,” I say, because now my anger is back and I’m a little peeved that Noah is here, asking these questions. Like he knows exactly what I’m doing.
“You don’t seem like the type of woman who goes out with people just because you find them attractive.” Noah cocks an eyebrow. His eyes are like a forest I could get lost in.
I’ve been caught. I shrug, trying to brush it off.
Peter snaps his fingers. “I know, you’re that guy from that diner or café or whatever. You dated Tally.”
Oh, fudge, as Holly would say.
Noah turns slowly to Peter, scans his face, and then looks back at me. “Anyway, the shop, the hot chocolate machine broke.”
“What?” I’m so confused by this information and the fact that Noah said nothing to Peter’s remark that I don’t know what else to say.
“A lady brought in several large boxes full of books, and as I was moving them off the counter, I kind of bumped the hot chocolate machine and it fell.”
