Someone Else's Ocean
Page 67
Grinning, I nodded.
“Oh, my God!”
“Would you chill out. The therapist down the hall is going to file another complaint.”
“If you ask me, she could use some multiples. She has resting bitch face. Not only that, she made her own reserved sign for her car. Like she actually went to Lowe’s and bought the shit and made a sign. That’s pathetic. Come on, we’re going to celebrate.”
“You’re nuts.”
“And you’re glowing.”
“You’ve seen me the last four days of work and haven’t said a word about my glow.” We piled into her convertible and buckled up.
“Better late than never. I’m hungry anyway, okay. Just stop being a killjoy and start from the beginning.”
Jasmine grinned from ear to ear as I got most of the details out of the way before we pulled up to Pungy’s Bistro. Their banana waffles with brown sugar syrup were my favorite and she knew it.
“I love you,” I sighed with a mouthful of waffle.
“So tonight, he’s cooking?”
“Yep.” Swallowing half a glass of orange juice, I hesitated while she studied me.
“You really are glowing. Not that you’ll believe me.”
“Can I ask you something without you getting offended?”
“Sure,” she said with a frown. “You can ask me anything.”
“When you are done with a man or dating one, how do you keep your feelings out of it? I mean you do date some of these guys.”
She sat back and grabbed her coffee cup. “You know I’m in love with someone else.”
“That’s the trick?”
“It is for me. I know that doesn’t help you.”
“I just… There’s so much about him that I like. Aside from his beastly entrance, the man is truly worth a damn. I just don’t know if I can separate the two.”
“You might not be able to with him.”
“I don’t want to analyze. I’m acting like I’ve never done this before, but with him, it feels like I haven’t. Does that make any sense?”
“Perfect.”
“It feels so different with him.”
“You may need to face the fact that you might already be in love with him.”
“No, I’m not, not yet, but if I spend more time with him, I will be. I know it. So, I guess the question is, do I go in and break my own heart or ax it now? He can’t stay. He has a daughter back in the States.”
“Then you know there’s a time limit and you work with what you have.”
“Even with the risk?”
“Is he worth it?”
“Yeah, yeah, he is.”