Page 6 of Falling For The Enemy (The Gilbert Curse)

“Yeah, you know I was in a coma forever.”

“I guess I’d forgotten that,” he said with a sheepish look that was way too charming. In high school she would have flirted back but it had been ten years since she’d talked to a man who wasn’t related to her or a medical professional, and she was so rusty.

“So outside or inside?” he asked.

“I’d prefer to be outside if you don’t mind...”

“I don’t. Why don’t you grab a table and I’ll go and get our drinks?” he suggested.

She asked him to get her an iced coffee of the day. And then went to find a table away from the others in the shade. As she sat down, her phone buzzed and she took it out. It was in her group chat with Indy and Rory. Indy had a good view of the coffee shop from her bookstore.

Indy: Who’s the hottie?

Rory: Kit. He’s my new neighbor.

Elle: I’ve got a patient in five. But I want all the details. Drinks at Indy’s shop tonight?

Rory thumbs-upped the message and then put her phone away. She didn’t have any good girl friends that she remembered from before the accident, and Indy and Elle had welcomed her as if she were their sister. The more her memories had returned, the more she realized that she hadn’t had any friends in the town of Gilbert Corners. That her grandfather had deliberately kept her and Dash and Conrad apart from the townspeople.

She didn’t like the fact that she’d been so easily led by his selfish desires. But she did remember that they had all been a little bit afraid of him.

“The coffee of the day was a strawberry white mocha,” he said.

“Great. I haven’t tried that before. But Lulu hired a new barista who has been experimenting and I haven’t been disappointed yet.”

He flashed a grin. “Good to hear. I followed your lead and got the same.”

They both took a sip. Rory closed her eyes as the icy, sweet and fruity coffee slid over her tongue. She liked it. It was cold and delicious; she took another sip of it before opening her eyes to find Kit staring at her.

Oh.

The look in his eyes was intense and unlike anything she’d noticed before. His lips were parted and his pupils dilated, and there was a slight flush to his skin.

“Do you like it?”

“Mmm-hmm,” he said. “So tell me about the person you thought I was.”

“Yeah, about that. It turns out that the person canceled but I hadn’t received the message. I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that.”

“I didn’t mind,” he said, taking another sip. “But you haven’t said what you hired them for.”

She turned the paper straw in her cup, staring down at her drink instead of at Kit. “I hired someone to help me get caught up on...um...life.”

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, drawing the fabric of his black button-down shirt taut across his chest. She stared at the muscles, which she could see for longer than she knew she should. “Like what?”

Kissing, she thought. She wanted to kiss him but she knew she’d be awkward at it and she guessed he probably wasn’t going to be up for her fumbling around and figuring that out.

“Driving?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.

“Yes and other things,” she said. “Pretty much everything. I was eighteen when I went into the coma, so a lot of stuff that I should have picked up in the last ten years I didn’t. I just don’t want to wait for life to start. I need a jump start and I thought hiring someone to help would be the answer.”

“But they backed out?”

“Yes. Or Dash found out and fired them,” she said, her lips twitching. “He didn’t think it was a good idea. That’s why I said you were a friend.”

“Well, if it helps, I did meet you when we were kids briefly.”

“Did you?”

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