Page 28 of Chasing the Dream

Maria plunked down on the couch. “Eh. Not much to tell.”

“That bad?”

“I think I must be a bad judge of character. The first time I met Patrick, we hit it off, but tonight we struggled to come up with things to talk about. Dating is so hard.”

“I agree.”

“How was your dinner with Gabe?”

Uh-oh. “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Yeah. The food was good. When did he learn to cook?”

“After college. When we both got our own places, we realized we’d have to learn to survive.”

Morgan laughed. “The joys of adulthood.”

“Exactly. So, what else? Did you two reminisce about the old days?”

“Some, but mostly we talked about work.” Liar!

“I thought it was sweet that he invited you over.”

Morgan nodded even though “sweet” wasn’t the word she’d use to describe the evening. “Both of you have been great.”

“So, what do you want to do tomorrow?”

“Let’s go shopping. I could use some more clothes for work and maybe another bathing suit.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m always up for shopping.”

They talked for a few more minutes and then went upstairs to bed. When Morgan slipped beneath the sheets, she didn’t immediately fall asleep, though. She lay in the dark and thought back over the evening. She envisioned Gabe in his swim trunks, his broad chest and narrow hips, his wavy brown hair and contagious smile. The two of them chasing each other around the pool, him picking her up in his arms, and their bodies touching as he set her back down.

He’d looked at her so intently when he’d called her beautiful, and her entire being had warmed at the compliment. Afterward, they’d eaten vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and a cherry on top for her and caramel for him. Then he’d driven her home as promised. He’d started to get out of the car to walk her to the door, but she’d stopped him.

“You don’t have to do that. This wasn’t a date.”

“Of course not, but it’s the polite thing to do.”

“I’ll be fine, Gabe. You can wait here until I get in.”

He sighed. “Fine.”

“Thanks for dinner and an interesting evening. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“It was fun. We’ll do it again sometime.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, and he added, “Or not.”

She’d just climbed out of the car and was about to close the door when he said, “Sweet dreams, Morgan.”

She should have just walked away, but instead, she made the mistake of looking back at him. His eyes were sparkling, and his trademarked crinkles were there too.

“You too.” She quickly shut the door and walked away. Her hand shook as she inserted the key, and she willed herself to hurry up and get inside. The sooner he was out of sight, the better.

After she’d shut the door behind her, she leaned her back against it and listened to the sound of him driving away. Only then did she exhale.