“No, you can’t. I wouldn’t have been successful in either of their trades. They love getting dirty and making things with their hands. Construction and fabricating suit them well.”
“I can’t imagine you on a jobsite.” He says and I don’t take it personally. My littlest sister asked me to help her find a wedding dress and if I ever build a house, she will have the winning bid. We complement each other well.
“Only to bring them coffee or lunch.” I reply.
“I bet you were the cutest one on site.” Oliver says with a wink.
I feel my cheeks grow warm and I look down finding it too hard to meet his gaze. I have always been terrible at overt flirting.
Swallowing down my embarrassment I take a deep breath and look back up to find Oliver staring at me with an intensity I wasn’t prepared to see.
“Thank you.” I say in what I hope is a normal tone. By the smirk on his face, I judge it to have failed spectacularly.
“Whatever happened to the brazen woman who demanded I take her to dinner after she commandeered my car?” He asks with a wide grin on his face.
I resist the urge to fiddle with my napkin or spoon as I strive to ignore how wicked he looks when he smiles.
“She was a mythical creature only summoned when Christmas cheer and peppermint mochas are available.”
His grin can’t get any wider and I’m struggling to focus on anything other than his bright smile. I’m allowed a brief reprieve when the waiter brings us our dessert.
“She was magnificent.” He says, “But I think Gabriella is cuter.”
“Stop that!”
“Not a snowball’s chance in hell darlin’.”
His southern drawl hits harder on the endearment than I consider fair. I’ve never been a woman to swoon over an accent, but the soft cadence of his voice is affecting my train of thought.
I dig into my pudding with gusto. I’ve never been fond of strange men using pet names but here I am melting into goo when this one does. I haven’t even known him for a full twenty-four hours.
Our dessert is gone in a blink and when I go to grab my purse to pay, he flashes me his phone screen showing he already paid online. I tried to protest but he refuses to let me repay him. Again.
Next thing I know Oliver is escorting me out of the restaurant. I don’t have time to offer to call myself an Uber before he’s holding the passenger door of his SUV open for me and I’m telling him my address.
I can’t put into words exactly why I feel safe with him. It’s just a knowing that I sense deep in my bones.
“You got an apartment in a nice neighborhood.” Oliver says as we pass yet another street with Peachtree in the name. Atlanta loves its peaches. Shoves them in your face they love them so much.
“Thanks. Moving across the country was scary enough but renting an apartment sight unseen was worse.” I reply with a grimace.
You can’t trust anything you see online. But I tried to find the best apartment in my price range that had enough reviews to seem legitimate. The maintenance crew were mentioned by name several times which gave me the confidence to put in an application and my due diligence paid off.
Larry has already been to my apartment to replace a light bulb. If I had a ladder that could reach the recessed lighting, I would have done it myself. The old man was sweet and pleased as punch that I offered him a pop.
Coke. I offered the man a coke.
The girls at the office tease me every time I call it pop. It’s all good fun but I’d rather not stick out like a sore thumballthe time.
The streetlights cast a warm glow on Oliver’s face as he drives through the city. Traffic is heavy but it begins to thin out the closer we get to my building.
“Where do you live?” I ask in an attempt to keep the conversation going.
He gestures to the backseat where he had thrown his jacket.
“My wallet is in the pocket. Check my license.”
Shrugging off his weird response I grab the jacket and check.
