“Why? Do you need to get going?”
“No. I’m good. You?”
“I’m not in a hurry.” I thought about it for a moment. “We could play a little game of twenty questions if you want. Or ten questions. The other person has to answer them as fast as possible without thinking too much.”
She nodded. “Where do we get the questions from?”
“Google,” we both said at the same time.
Lori pulled out her phone and did a search. “I think I found a list of questions that are pretty good. Okay, ready?”
I nodded. “Go for it.” I closed my eyes and drew in the salty air, feeling more relaxed than I had felt in such a long time. I opened my eyes just as a squadron of pelicans flew overhead.
Lori scrolled through her phone. “Okay. What activity instantly calms you?”
“I was just thinking about that, actually. What we’re doing right now. Being by the ocean, listening to the crashing waves and the seagulls. The smell of coconut-scented sunscreen and grilled hot dogs.” I pointed to the pelicans who were not far off in the distance. “Watching the pelicans glide by or dive into the ocean headfirst, looking for fish. I can’t get enough of it. What about you?”
“Same. This is wonderful.” She glanced at her phone again. “If you could do anything instead of your current career, what would you do?”
I scratched my chin, thinking about it. “Fortune cookie writer.”
She laughed. “That could be fun.”
“What about you?”
She batted her eyelashes. “A cupcake taster.”
“What flavor?”
Lori shrugged. “I’m a simple girl, so . . . vanilla, chocolate, or lemon. Oh wait, I love red velvet, too.” She held up a finger. “And pecan praline.”
I chuckled. “In other words, any and all cupcakes.”
“Basically. Yes.” Lori glanced at her phone again. “Favorite color?”
“Green,” I answered.
She gave me a knowing smile. “Also green.”
“Interesting . . .”
“Indeed.” Lori scrolled through her phone. “Here we go. Which of the five senses would you say is your strongest?”
“This shouldn’t be a surprise—smell.”
Lori laughed. “I should’ve known.”
“And you?”
She hesitated. “Touch.”
I glanced down at her hand for some reason.
Lori must have noticed because she wiggled her fingers before asking the next question. “Do you collect anything?”
I chuckled. “Dust.”
“Please explain.”
“I hate cleaning.”
“Me, too!” She laughed. “What makes you angry?”
“Inconsiderate people. You?”
“Same.” We watched another squadron of pelicans glide by overhead and then she turned back to me. “This is nice.”
I nodded. “Yeah . . .”
Honestly, I’d thought our lunch was going to be a disaster and a huge mistake, but I ended up enjoying spending time with Lori, which surprised the hell out of me. She was the complete opposite of what I expected and now that I was getting to know her, dare I say she was even more attractive.
I casually glanced to my right, sneaking a peek of her.
Lori turned to me. “What?”
Busted.
I shrugged. “Nothing. Are we done with the questions for today?”
“Do you want to be done?”
“No—not really. How about two more?”
Lori smiled. “Sounds good. Let’s see if I can find something that enquiring minds want to know.” She started scrolling through her phone again. “No.” She scrolled. “No way. Uh-uh.” More scrolling. “Not even a chance. Not that, either.”
“How about if I choose a question?”
Lori turned to me, thinking about it, and then dropped her hand with her phone back down to her lap. “That’s fair. In fact, you can choose the last two. Make them good, though.”
“Such pressure.” I pulled out my phone and searched for two questions to get to know Lori better. “I’ve got the first question.”
“That was fast.”
I smirked. “I don’t mess around with serious stuff like this.” I glanced down at my phone and cleared my throat. “Okay, here’s your question for ten thousand dollars and a brand-new car.”
Lori rubbed her hands together. “Give it to me.”
“The zombie apocalypse is coming and—”
Lori laughed and grabbed my arm. “Stop right there! I thought we were asking serious questions.”
I chuckled. “This is a serious question.”
“A zombie apocalypse?”
“Yes! It could happen!”
She continued to giggle and shook her head. “There’s no doubt this is that next level of ridiculousness you were talking about.”
“You may be wrong and you may be right.” I glanced down at her hand that was still grabbing my arm. I didn’t have a problem with it, and maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised since she told me touch was her strongest of the five senses.
Lori let go of my arm. “Oh. Sorry.”
“No worries. Can I finish the question?”
“Yes.”
“The zombie apocalypse is coming, and you have time for one more meal and can only choose one person to have it with. Who do you choose?”
“That’s easy. Grandma Joyce. She’s my best friend and I love spending time with her.”
“Are your parents still in the picture?”
Lori smiled. “Yes, I love my parents, but I really don’t see them very often. They got tired of the traffic and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona three years ago. What about your parents?”
“They moved to Boise, Idaho, also to get away from the big city.”
“And your answer to the question? Who would you have your last meal with before the zombie apocalypse.”
“That is such a great question.” I winked at her. “And my answer would be similar to yours. I would most likely have my last meal with Grandpa Wayne. Or my best friend, Dan. One of them for sure. Have you met Dan yet?”
Lori shook her head. “No. How would I have met him?”
“Oh, sorry. He’s the promotion director at the radio station.”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Well, you’ll meet him soon enough since they’re loading up on promotional events for us in the near future. Looks like you and I are going to be spending a lot of time together.”
Lori nodded. “It sure seems that way.”
An older couple holding hands walked in our direction, stopping to eye the benches. All of them were taken.
“Why don’t we head back so we can let them have our bench?”
“Good idea,” Lori said.
We stood and I waved the couple over. “We were just leaving, if you want the bench.”
“Great!” the man said. “Thanks so much.” He sat down, but the woman remained standing.
“Are you here on vacation?” I asked.
The woman looked surprised at my question. “How did you know?”