Page 9 of Only Ever You
“If I could, I would.”
A little while later, Casey was busy in the front, Janet was bustling around in the back, and I was boxing up donuts to sell. I swear my body had an antenna for Parker. I’d thought he was cute before, but there were tons of cute guys in the world. He had a different effect on me, and I was still trying to convince myself he wasn’t who I thought he might be.
I’d been trying to ignore the sparks that exploded inside my body whenever I heard Parker’s voice. Just then, I heard the low rumble of his voice as Casey took his order and joked with him about something. And then, “Luna?” she called.
“Yeah?” I hurried toward the waist-high door from the kitchen and looked over it. As soon as my eyes landed on Parker, those sparks scattered through me again.
“Parker needs two boxes of donuts. Do you have that many left?” Casey asked.
I cleared my throat. “Um, yeah. Any requests?”
“Two variety boxes would be great.” Parker’s eyes met mine, and I willed the heat blasting through me to cool.
I swallowed. “Just give me a minute.”
“Breathe,” I whispered to myself. “Breathe.”
By the time I got back to the front with the donuts, Casey was busy taking orders from a family. She glanced over quickly. “He’s already paid.”
I rounded the counter to where Parker was waiting. “Here you go,” I squeaked.
His eyes met mine. “I just realized how I know you,” he said after a long pause.
I almost blurted out, “Took you long enough,” but I managed to keepthatthought inside.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked.
I cleared my throat. “I don’t know. At first, I wasn’t sure, and then I guess I figured you forgot.” My cheeks were on freaking fire.
“Before yesterday, I thought I knew you, but I couldn’t place you.”
“Uh-huh.” I cleared my throat. “It’s been, you know, over a decade.” My breath kept catching as nervousness spun like a storm inside.
Parker’s espresso eyes searched mine. “You just disappeared,” he finally said.
Because that’s what I did. Not like I’d had a choice.
“Is your name Luna or Jane?” he asked.
Chapter Six
PARKER
Is your name Luna or Jane?
As she stared up at me blankly, I wondered how many things I didn’t know about her, starting with her name.
“Luna,” she said, her tone forceful. She gave her head a little shake. “I know the whole thing is strange. I promise I can explain.” She looked so earnest and worried, my heart twisted a little.
Ireallywanted that explanation. “I’d say let’s get coffee, but you work here.”
Luna’s curls bounced as she nodded. “I don’t know, um, we could get pizza or something. I reallydowant to explain,” she said hurriedly. “I know I should’ve said something before, but—” Her breath came out in a rushed sigh. “I was embarrassed because you didn’t remember me.”
“Well, I thought your name was Jane,” I pointed out. “You look familiar, but it’s been ten years. Your hair was straight back then, and you said your name was Jane.” I lifted my hands and let them fall, unsure of what else to say. I experienced a twinge of guilt that I somehow didn’t completely recognize her, but people look similar in the world, and I’d chalked it up to that.
“Well, I have your number, Fuzzy loves you, and you’ve offered to be my dog sitter.” I sucked in a breath, trying to collect myself. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
Luna nodded. “I promise I was. I was just trying to figure out when. Until yesterday morning, I only saw you here every so often, and that time you scooped me out of the ocean. I wanted to say something then, but it was a weird day. I was a little flustered yesterday morning because well, the moose and falling in the mud and—” She circled her hand in the air nervously.
