Page 2 of Marry Me, Right Now

“Lucille’s Cafe near Queen and Strachan.”

“Is it a nice place?”

I shrugged. “It’s okay.”

“And why do you need to walk to work? That’s on the streetcar line, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s three bucks each way. That’s almost half an hour of pay just to get to and from work. So if I can possibly avoid it, I will.”

His lips pressed together strangely as if he were processing. Then I noticed his lovely shirt, and the incredibly expensive looking watch.

I laughed suddenly. “You had no idea how much transit costs these days, did you?”

Jacob looked properly sheepish. “No, actually.”

“When is the last time you took the subway?”

He stared at the brick wall behind me for a moment. “I was on my way to a party at New Year’s a while back, and we couldn’t get a car.” His grin was positively gorgeous. “I assume it’s not always full of people in glitter hats, openly drinking beer?”

“Only on Thursdays,” I said smoothly.

Jacob chuckled, then asked, “Is moving back in with your parents an option?”

I shook my head. “Gone.”

Across the table, his hand twitched slightly, as if he wanted to reach for mine. “I’m sorry,” he said gently. “I lost my dad a few years ago. It’s rough.”

It was sweet that his impulse was to comfort a stranger. He was too handsome to be real, and I had to wonder why he wasn’t somewhere far fancier than this little Italy nook.

“Opportunity,” he said, and I wondered if I had zoned out and missed something for a moment before I saw him pointing to my crossword.

“Oh, thanks.”

“May I help you finish the rest?”

“Sure.” Why a guy like this would want to interact with me at all was a mystery, but I had to keep my mood light and positive, so spending a bit of time with someone new might be good for me.

“Do you hang out with strangers on patios in this area often?” I teased.

“Only when I see a positively gorgeous girl hoarding the last table to herself,” he chuckled.

A tiny tingle was stirring in my spinal column and I couldn’t meet his eyes for several moments. I had no idea what to say to that, so I tried to get down to business. “Six letter word for coffee shop computer.”

“Laptop.”

I filled it in quickly, turning the page toward him a bit more. “Six letter word for tea, that ends in a G.”

He shrugged, forcing me to notice his wide shoulders. The gym, the rock climbing wall, or mother nature had been very particular in sculpting his physique, and the casual way he carried himself without ego about it was refreshing. I always disliked it when a guy was full of himself.

“I’m a coffee guy.”

“Oolong,” I said, printing it into the spaces.

“What’s an ‘oolong’?” he asked, testing out the word comically.

“It’s a Chinese black tea.”

His laugh was genuine. “It sounds like a cartoon word, like ‘kapow’.”

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