Page 10 of Mercer

Right?

“You’re lost in thought, everything okay?” Mercer asked.

She realized they’d stopped walking and were a few feet away from the burger stall. A man and woman were inside the stall, where smoke from the grill billowed out a wide pipe at the side.

“I was just thinking how weird it was that I met you.”

He arched a brow, a smile playing across his lips. “Weird good?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but then thought she’d sound nuts, so she closed it. She wasn’t sure what to say.

He took her hand in his, linking their fingers, and what felt like electricity shot up her arm. “Listen, I believe in fate. I one hundred percent believe that I was meant to be working the security office today, and you were meant to come to the park. If you don’t believe in fate or kismet or destiny, or whatever you want to call it, that’s okay, because I do. I’ll believe enough for both of us.”

He stared at her earnestly, and she swore his eyes morphed from hazel to amber, but she was sure it was a trick of the light.

“You’re pretty adorable, you know that?” she said with a chuckle.

His upper lip curled. “Adorable is for bunnies.”

“And sexy security officers,” she quipped, then her cheeks flamed as she realized she’d called him sexy.

He let out a deep chuckle. “You’re very sexy too.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “And adorable.”

She grinned. “I believe in fate too. It’s actually what I was thinking about on the walk here; I just didn’t realize I’d been so quiet.”

“Let’s get lunch, and then we’ll find a quiet table and talk.”

After a few minutes of chatting about the menu board, which had only three items on it—the burger of the day, a plain burger, or a cheeseburger, as well as two different kinds of fries—they both ordered the burger of the day and fries.

“Who’s your friend?” the man asked as he picked up burger patties from the grill and set them gently on open buns.

“This is Rhomi.” Mercer gestured to the couple and said, “This is Tarquin and his wife, Lucy.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Rhomi said.

“You too,” Lucy said. “I gave you extra fries, Mercer.”

“Thanks.”

Rhomi carried their drinks and Mercer carried a plastic tray to an empty picnic table where they sat across from each other.

The burger of the day was BBQ-style with bacon, tangy barbecue sauce, and pickles, and the fries were the curly kind that were dusted with seasoned salt.

She took a bite of the big burger and groaned at how good it tasted.

“Like it?” he asked with a smile.

“It’s great,” she said when she’d finished the bite. She took a drink from a bottle of lemon iced tea. “I love burgers. Do you eat here a lot?”

He finished chewing, then put his burger down. As he swiped a fry through a puddle of ketchup, he said, “We have an employee cafeteria I eat at most of the time, but they don’t have burgers for us. I just check out the burger of the day and, if it appeals to me, I’ll grab one.”

She hummed and took another bite.

“So tell me about your job search,” he said. “You said you got laid off?”

“Yeah, it sucked because I really liked that job a lot. I’ve been on a ton of interviews and must have my resume out to a hundred different job openings. What really sucks is that I’ve only got about a month’s worth of savings to tide me over until I’ll have to move back to my parents’ house. I had to turn in my notice to my apartment because I don’t have a job on the horizon yet. If they don’t rent it before I get a job, then I can keep it, but it’s in a great development and I’m sure someone will snatch it up.”

Mercer cleared his throat. “That really sucks. I hope we’re able to find a job for you in the park. It’s a great place to work.”

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