“Do you want cake?” She tried to turn and look over her shoulder.
“Depends.” He replied. “Do you know what kind it is?”
“No.”
“Then maybe we better find out. If it’s the yummy kind, maybe we can have some and then come back, and I’ll push you again.”
Marisol thought that over for a moment, “Okay, I can go find out.” She put her feet to the ground and slowed the swing. I went to turn and walk back, but Wes took my wrist and stopped me. The moment he did, my heart began to beat harder.
Marisol rushed away to find out what kind of cake it was, and I turned to face Wes. “I’m sorry she was monopolizing your pushing skills. She normally doesn’t like to be near strangers.”
“Maybe subconsciously she knows that I’m not a stranger.” He let go of my hand, and I tried to hide my disappointment.
“Maybe,” I replied softly.
“I’m glad you were here today.”
“You are?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes,” He hesitated, “Did you get the job?”
“I did.” I stared into his blue eyes, feeling an incredible urge to lean into him and rest my head against his chest.
“Then I guess we’ll be seeing each other around the hospital.” He said.
“I guess so,” I replied dumbly. Could he hear my heart beating? It sounded loud enough in my ears that I thought maybe he could.
“Maybe we can have lunch sometime or coffee.”
“Maybe,” I replied and watched him search my face. What was he looking for?
“Charlotte, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Would you be interested in having dinner with me sometime?”
I don’t know what I expected him to ask, but that wasn’t it. “Dinner?”
“Yes.”
“Um, I don’t know.”
“I’d like to get to know you better, Charlotte.”
“You would?”
His hand came up to my face, his knuckles brushing my cheek. “Yes, I would.”
My heart was beating uncontrollably now, and I knew he had to be able to hear it. I licked my dry lips, and his gaze dropped to my mouth. In his eyes was something that I had never seen looking my way. It both scared me and excited me. How could this incredibly smart and sexy man be interested in me? Was it only sexual? Or was he interested in more than that?
His thumb brushed the bottom of my lip, and I felt myself melting toward him. “What do you say? Have dinner with me sometime?”
I was about to answer him when Marisol ran back at our side, she grabbed his other hand, and the one that had been touching me dropped away as he gave my daughter the attention she was looking for.
“It’s a chocolate cake!” She grinned at him.
“Oh, I love chocolate cake! Can you go save me a piece?”
“Okay!” She took off toward the porch again, and I began to turn away.
As soon as my back was to him, he leaned forward and whispered against my ear, “You didn’t answer me, Charlotte.”