Page 25 of The Autumn We Fell in Love

Now I just have to figure out how to make her mine.

Brie

Ifeel like I’m stuck in one of the romance novels I dive into most evenings after work. I walk face-first into Colby and suddenly everything feels different.

I didn’t come to San Francisco looking for love. I came for the CCI prize winnings so I can provide for my parents.

But I won’t be upset if I leave with both.

It’s something straight out of a rom-com. Girl walks into boy. Boy smiles and flirts with girl. Girl’s panties are basically instantly sopping.

And then . . . what? Girl goes up to her room and never sees boy again?

I know I shouldn’t let myself get distracted. Not when so much is riding on my performance at CCI tomorrow.

But damn, Colby is something else. There aren’t a lot of single guys like him back home. And he’s right about our chemistry. I hate to let a guy I feel this way about two seconds after meeting him get away.

He says we go together like wine and cheese, a pairing made in heaven. I wonder if he means for one night or for forever.

I’d rather have forever.

I wonder if I’d settle for just one night if he’s not offering the latter.

I want romance, to make love on a bed covered in rose petals. I want to be wooed until death do us part and beyond.

But a girl like me, with the body I have? Most guys don’t want much to do with it. Not in my experience.

So if there’s a guy willing to rock my world, even for just one night? I guess I’ll take it.

Like I said, I’d rather have forever. But I’m not sure that’s in the cards for me. So I’ll take a few isolated toe-curlingly beautiful experiences over nothing at all.

I wonder if Colby would like to have a toe-curlingly beautiful experience with me. From the way his gaze is roving the ebb and flow of my curves, the answer isyes.

“I’m not allergic to cheese,” I tell him.

He places a hand over his heart in exaggerated relief. “Thank God. I was worried. Cheese is a staple.”

Something the clerk said when I checked in a few minutes ago, before I went down the wrong corridor then had to backtrack and, searching for arrows pointing me to where I wanted to go, collided Colby. Something about a wine bar and a beautiful view of the city.

“You thirsty?” I blurt like the suave temptress I decidedly am not.

He raises a single eyebrow. “When am I not? I hear there’s wine on the fourteenth floor.”

I practically melt with relief at his assist with my clumsy pick-up play. “That’s just what I was thinking.”

Now both eyebrows lift with genuine surprise. “Really?”

I nod. “Tell you what. Let’s drop our bags in our rooms and meet at the patio wine bar. I’m craving a good pinot noir, and I wouldn’t mind some good company to go with it.”

A smile plays at his mouth. “Pinot noir? A girl after my own heart.”

“It’s the closest I get to being dark and mysterious.”

Colby laughs, and the sound fills me like bubbly champagne. “You don’t need to be dark and mysterious, woman. You’re honey and spice and everything nice.”

If I was blushing before, now my face has got to be straight-up purple. I don’t know how to respond to his compliment, so I get back to business. “So are we on? See you on the patio in twenty minutes?”

He grins. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

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