“I’ll have a vanilla latte and a blueberry muffin.” Then I get a sudden mental image of the fate of my last blueberry muffin.
I’m still haunted by it’s sad dive into the trashcan.
“Wait. Scratch the blueberry muffin. I’ll have a scone, also. Thanks.”
The waitress takes the menus with a huge smile for Seth. “I’ll bring your orders right out.”
As she’s walking away, Seth raises his eyebrows.
“Sorry. Blueberry muffins bring up bad memories for me now.”
“Everything with you is a story.”
The way he says it is so affectionate that I relax a bit. His dark hair is flopping all over the place and he has at least a day’s worth of stubble on his face. He’s just a guy, right? There’s no reason to be nervous around him. Yes, he’s handsome and accomplished and basically every girl’s fantasy. But he’s also the same guy who would rather hide in a closet than socialize.
“So… sbinthecloset?”
He laughs. “It got your attention, didn’t it?”
“That it did. I was shocked to see you have a profile on the app.”
“I didn’t. After we parted ways I regretted not asking for your number. We didn’t really exchange any personal information and I wasn’t sure how to find you. Then it occurred to me that I knew one thing about you.”
“That I was using GlowUp.”
“Exactly. It turns out being one of the owners has its perks.”
“Hmm, so you shamelessly hacked the app to find me.”
“I did. I’m pretty sure the head programmer wanted to quit after dealing with me.”
The waitress reappears then with our order and only then do I realize we’re both leaning over the table to get closer. After she leaves, I take a nervous sip of my coffee. We sit in silence for a few moments before we both start talking at once.
“I was–”
“What do–”
That breaks the ice and we both laugh. He holds out his hand indicating that I should go first.
“This is embarrassing but I don’t actually understand what you do for a living. All I know is that everyone says it’s really impressive.”
His eyes sparkle with amusement. “I worked on Wall Street for years then I started investing for myself. Now I enjoy funding new businesses that have potential.”
“That’s really cool. Everyone seems excited about GlowUp.”
“I hope so. But tell me more about you.”
He listens attentively as I describe what I do as an office manager. Then we talk about our families. I’m not surprised to learn that he is the oldest of three.
“Do I seem like the bossy type?”
I raise an eyebrow. “We both know the answer to that question.”
“My little sister is actually the boss of all of us. She has me and my brother Dane wrapped pretty tight.”
The image of him trailing after a pigtailed girl makes me smile.
A warm feeling spreads through me as I sip my coffee. This isn’t what I was expecting at all. Talking to him feels so comfortable.