Page 26 of Spotlight
Turning on my heel, I head to the front counter. Flynn follows me, standing on the other side. I feel a little better with a few feet of distance between us.
“You already gave me yours,” I say as I ring him up and put his books in a tote. I can feel him watching my every movement and it’s unnerving.
“Yeah, but you haven’t texted.”
“You only gave it to me three hours ago.”
“So, you were planning to text?”
When I don’t reply, he says, “That’s what I thought.”
He rests one elbow on the counter. “You know I thought you’d be more excited to see me. I meant it when I said I thought about that night in New York hundreds of times. I was kicking myself for not getting your name or number.”
“A thousand.”
“What?”
“At Sabrina’s engagement party, you said you thought about that night a thousand times.”
He grins. “A million, probably.”
“Wait. You’re the guy from New York?” Ruby appears out of nowhere and gawks between us.
I want to die inside.
Flynn, on the other hand, lights up. “You talked about me?”
“Only to say terrible things.” I usher him toward the door before my sister can say anything else.
“Nice to meet you,” Ruby calls after him. “Enjoy the books!”
He throws a hand over his shoulder. “Yeah. You too.”
I walk him all the way outside. Flynn laughs, still smirking at me. “What terrible things could you possibly have said about that night?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the part where I woke up and you’d snuck out.” I wish I could take the words back because I fear they give too much away. I was so embarrassed that morning. I still am.
“I did not sneak out.” He must read the thoughts swirling in my head that are screaming they don’t believe him because he adds, “I swear.”
“Well, you weren’t there when I woke up, so either you left me there or were hiding and hoping I’d see myself out.”
“My agent showed up at my door early that morning and said the general manager of the Renegades was in the lobby waiting to talk to me. I went downstairs to meet with him. I wasn’t gone long. Thirty minutes tops. You were asleep. I thought I would be back before you woke up. When you were gone, I felt awful. I knocked on the room next door and looked for you around the hotel. I even asked the doorman if he’d seen you, but he didn’t have much to go on since all I could say about you was that you were a gorgeous blonde with the prettiest blue eyes I’d ever seen and a smart mouth.”
I open said mouth and close it when I can’t think of a single thing to say in response. He hadn’t been running away from me? Maybe it says something about my luck with men that my mind automatically went there, but honestly, I never considered any other scenario.
“Let me take you out. We can catch up over dinner or drinks. I want to hear what you’ve been doing since then.”
The answer to that is not much. Work and Greer take up all my time. And the reminder of my daughter gives me another reason to shut this down. Flynn is interested in the single, carefree woman he met in New York. Not the busy, single mom who swore off dating after one too many disappointing dates. He likes the person he thinks I am. Not the one that I actually am.
“I can’t.”
Surprisingly, he doesn’t push. He does linger a moment longer as if hoping I’ll change my mind.
When I don’t, he finally nods. “It was good to see you again. Thanks for the books.”
My stomach dips with an uneasy sensation that might be disappointment. It’s for the best, but I still don’t like it.
“You’re welcome.” I force a smile. “Try not to use them as coasters.”
