Page 12 of Finding Happily Ever After
“Fair enough.” Aiden crossed his arms over his chest. “Let me remedy that. Let me buy you a coffee.”
She tilted her head so her long ponytail fell over her shoulder. “Is that you asking me out?”
It was lame. Aiden knew it, and he knew he could do better.A lotbetter. But there was no time like the present, and he didn’t want to risk missing his opportunity completely. “Okay, let’s not call it a date,” he said. “Let’s call it acoffee. We’ll start there.” He flashed her a smile he hoped would convince her to say yes. Because he hoped like hell she’d say yes.
It had been a long time since he’d been drawn to a woman the way he was with Natalie. Averylong time. If ever.
She shook her head slightly and opened her mouth to turn him down, no doubt.
No way.“Did I say coffee?” He interrupted her before she could say what he was sure would be a rejection. “I meant, coffeeanda honey bun from Sweetie Pies. Maybe you can say no to me. Or even a coffee. But no one can say no to a honey bun.”
She burst out laughing and nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Aiden didn’t bother trying to hide his joy. No point in playing games. “It’s a date?”
“No.” She held up a finger. “It’s coffeeanda honey bun.” Her smile gave her away. “And, for the record, I would have said yes just to the coffee.”
ChapterFive
She’d said yes.
Natalie still couldn’t believe she’d said yes to a date—or acoffee—with Aiden.
But why not?
She wasn’t a teenager anymore. She was almost twenty-eight, for goodness’ sake. Long past time to go on an actual date, never mind what might come from that date, or subsequent dates.
Natalie’s skin flushed and something low in her belly tightened at the thought.
No.
She could not let herself think about that.
Aboutsex.
Or the fact that she’d never had it.
After all, it was hard to have sex when you hadn’t even hardly kissed a man.
But no, she couldn’t let herself get carried away. After all, it was just a coffee. A coffeeanda honey bun, she corrected herself as Aiden turned from the counter of Sweetie Pies, where he was placing their order. He smiled at her.
Damn.
How was it that a man could make her feel so twisted up and turned around with a simple smile? It was ridiculous and amazing. But still, she was getting ahead of things.
Natalie forced herself to take a deep breath and focus on the moment and only the moment as Aiden approached the table with a full tray.
“I didn’t know how you took your coffee, so I brought a little of everything.” He set the coffees down, followed by the plate of honey buns that Sweetie Pies was famous for, and then started placing tiny cups in front of her. “This one is cream. This one is almond milk. This one is skim and—”
She stopped him before he placed the other three cups down. “I almost hate to say this, but…”
“You drink it black, don’t you?” His face fell, but only for a second before he laughed. “I should have known.”
“It’s just easier to drink it black,” she said as he started putting the cups back on the tray. “You never know what you’re going to get at the station, so I just started taking it black for simplicity.”
“That makes sense.”
“But thank you.” It was sweet. It was beyond sweet. She waited until he’d returned the tray of unused milks to the lady behind the counter, who didn’t look entirely impressed to take them back. “How about you?” she asked when he sat down. “Sugar?”
