Page 29 of Save Me

Finally!He thought. A personal question!

“I was born and raised up in New York. Long Island, actually. I lived there until about five years ago and then I sort of traveled around the country trying to find a place to call home.”

“Wow! And you decided on Laurel Bay?” And yeah, there was more than a hint of disbelief in her tone. “Why? Out of every place in the country, what was the big appeal of here?”

How did he even describe it?

“I wanted a small town, the beach was a perk, and, more than anything, I wanted privacy. I was driving through on my way to Myrtle Beach and stopped to get something to eat and…” He shrugged. “That was it.”

“And you didn’t think to keep driving further down the coast? Magnolia Sound’s the next town over and they have a lot more to offer than we do.”

Another shrug. “Like I said, there was just something very appealing to the whole thing. Your uncle put me in touch with Patrick and…here we are.”

“Clearly you must work remotely then. I mean…if you were able to have your pick of anyplace in the country, your job must be very flexible.”

“You…could say that.”

“I’ll admit, I love being my own boss. Sometimes it’s a little lonely working from home all by myself, but I’m very disciplined and I think I get a lot more done than I would in an office surrounded by a bunch of people. What about you? Do you miss being in an office?”

“My job never required that,” he replied vaguely.

“Oh, well…that’s cool.”

They fell into companionable silence and, before he knew it, they were pulling up in front of her apartment. As soon as he shut the car off, Ryleigh twisted to face him.

“Thanks for being willing to go out on such short notice. When I was texting with my siblings earlier, I sort of mentioned us having plans—you know, putting it out there even more that we’re dating—and it was nice that you didn’t make a liar out of me.”

Okay, so she was still actively hung up on the whole fake relationship thing and he was still the only one genuinely invested.

Patience wasn’t his strong suit, but he’d make the exception for her.

“I know you pride yourself on honesty,” he said with a smile.

“It’s stupid, I know, but…being lied to is my biggest pet peeve. So I try not to do that to anyone.”

“That’s very admirable of you.”

She smiled and grabbed her purse from the floor. “So, um…should we schedule something for later this week? Something here in town where people might see us? Dinner again?”

Not quite the follow-up date scenario he was hoping for, but…he had agreed to this.

“Sure. Yeah. My schedule’s fairly wide open so you can just text me and let me know what you’re thinking.”

“Great!”

“Or…”

Her eyes went a little wide, as if she wasn’t expecting him to suggest anything. “Or…?”

“You know, we don’t have to just go out at night. Since we both work from home, we could meet up at the coffee shop for breakfast. Or if mornings aren’t your thing, there’s always lunch. Not at the pub because…well…because. But there are plenty of other places we can go to grab something to eat.”

“Oh…yeah. Definitely.” Only, she didn’t sound particularly enthused about any of those things.

What he wanted was to invite her to his place, but considering her plan was for more visibility, that wouldn’t fly.

Yet.

Eventually, he’d love to convince her he wasn’t such a bad guy to hang out with just for the sake of hanging out and not because of any plan or because she was trying to prove a point.

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