“Of course,” says Addison. “He’s a guy. He does annoying things.”
“Do you ever get really annoyed at him, though?”
Addison gives me a funny look. “This is about that mechanic, isn’t it?”
“What? No.”
“Oh, come on, Millie. He’s a total hunk. I’d be surprised if he didn’t get you hot and bothered.”
I scoff. Defensively, I say, “Do you think your boyfriend would like you talking that way?”
Addison’s phone goes off on the counter.
“Speak of the devil,” Addison says, glancing at the screen. She wipes off her hands and taps the screen. “David wants to take me out to dinner. Would you kill me if I left a little early?”
“Of course not,” I say. “Go ahead.”
“Wait. Let me ask him if it’s cool if you come.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to be the third wheel on your date.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. I’ll be fine. God. Go! Have fun.”
A few minutes later, Addison is gone, and I’m wrapping up things alone in the shop. The last thing I have to do is carry a big box full of recycling out to the bin in the parking lot.
As I lug it outside, I can’t even see where I’m going, but it’s a small parking lot and it’s almost like my feet just know where to take me.
The next thing I know, I’m smacking into someone.
“Oh my God! I’m sorry!” I say, fumbling to set the box down so I can properly apologize.
When I set it down, I see that the person I’ve run into is Rex.
Of course it is.
“Sorry about that,” I mumble.
“Need some help?” he asks, nodding at the box.
“No. That’s okay. It’s just recycling.”
“I can see that,” he says, looking amused. “At least let me take this. It’ll make it a lot easier for you to see.”
He pulls out the largest broken-down box that’s stuffed inside the bigger one. I try to protest, but he’s right—without that box, it does make it a whole lot easier to carry the rest.
Together, we walk the rest of the way across the parking lot and throw all the cardboard into the recycling bin.
“Done for the night?” Rex asks as we both start walking to our cars.
“Yep,” I say.
“Any dinner plans?”
I shrug. Why is he asking me this?
“You should grab a bite with me,” Rex says.
I bristle at how commanding his voice is. “Actually, I do have plans.”
He studies me. “No, you don’t.”
“Excuse me? Yes, I do.”
“Yeah? What are they?”
My tongue grows unwieldy in my mouth. “I’m meeting my sister and her boyfriend at a hot new Japanese restaurant.”
“Right…” says Rex. He clearly knows I’m lying.
I sigh. “Fine. I don’t have plans. But if you want to eat dinner together, I’d like to be asked. Not told.”
Rex nods. “Fair enough. Millie, would you like to grab a bite with me?”
Shit. I didn’t think he’d actually ask. I thought he’d call me a bossy bitch or something—or that he’d just roll his eyes.
This man really wants to have dinner with me?
“Um, sure,” I say, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, as if I accept dinner invitations from hunky mechanics all the time. “Where should we go?”
“Do you have family around here?” asks Rex.
“My sister Addison and I co-own Fizz & Glow,” I say. Rex and I are now sitting inside a teriyaki place on the other side of the shopping center. Surprisingly, the conversation has actually been flowing pretty well between the two of us. “She’s my only sibling.”
Rex nods. “And your parents?”
“They still live in the house we grew up in. What about you?”
“My folks are still together. I have just one sibling, too. A brother. Huck.”
“Older or younger?”
“A couple years older. He’s turning forty this year.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah. The last time I talked to him, I kept ribbing him about him almost being an old man, but then he reminded me I’m not that far behind.” Rex glances over at me. “Forty must sound ancient to you, huh?”
I shrug. “No. Not really. I’ve always kind of felt older than my age, though.”
“Yeah? How old do you feel?”
“Oh, I don’t know…just…older than twenty-four.”
Rex eats a bite of his beef teriyaki. “You ever date a guy more than a decade older than you?”
I laugh. “Is that your way of asking me out?”
He takes another bite, chews, swallows. “When I ask you out, I’ll ask you out.”
A fuzzy feeling vibrates through my body. God. I’ve never met a guy like him. It’s obvious that he knows what he wants…and he gets what he wants.
“So what do you do when you’re not fixing cars?” I ask.
Rex shrugs. “Honestly, that’s pretty much all I do. Takes so much time to run a business. As you well know.”
I do. “Yeah. Guess I’m the same way. I don’t do much except work…or think about work.”
“What about before you started making bath bombs?” Rex asks. “Don’t tell me you were making them when you were a kid.”
Immediately, memories of the ballet studio come to mind. I smile. “No. When I was younger, I was really into dance. Ballet, especially. I even thought I wanted to become a professional dancer at one point…but I didn’t—and still don’t—have the right figure for it.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t be a good dancer.”
“No, you’re right. But there’s just…a standard of beauty.”
“You’re stunning, Millie. If anyone ever says otherwise, they’re full of shit.”
I feel my cheeks go hot. I quickly shove a huge piece of chicken teriyaki in my mouth, as if that’s going to solve everything.
After swallowing, I mumble, “Thanks.”
“Do you have a favorite one?” Rex asks.
“A favorite ballet?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh…I don’t think I could pick,” I say. “They’re all so beautiful. And it’s been ages since I’ve seen one.”
Rex nods, and I’m relieved when he changes the subject. Not because I don’t want to keep talking about dance, but because I just keep thinking about him calling me stunning.
We keep talking as we finish up our meal and walk back across the shopping center. When we get back to our little parking lot, he walks me over to my car.
I realize how close the two of us are standing. And then I realize how much I want him to kiss me.
I look up at Rex, and he smiles down at me. I feel a little wave of faintness run through me.
“What?” I say, blushing and smiling.
He shakes his head. “Just…you.”
Then he leans down and kisses me, pressing his strong, surprisingly soft lips against mine. In that moment, it feels like the world stops.