Flirting with Fifty

“I’ll do my best.” Jack gestured to the blue tote on her lap. “I brought my lunch, too. Can I join you?”

“Yes.” She scooted down, giving him more room. “Class went well today.”

“A lot of class participation,” he agreed. “It’s great to see them so engaged already. I think it’s going to be a really good semester.”

“I’ve enjoyed this first week.”

“You didn’t expect to?” he asked with a smile, pulling his lunch from his knapsack. It looked like tahini and vegetables.

She grinned, shrugged. “You never know. You were an unknown entity.”

“And you dislike chaos and change.”

“And you don’t?” she flashed.

“I like it better than conformity.”

“I’m not a conformist.”

“No?”

Her temper flared. “No.” She held up an arm, showing off her numerous gold bangles. “This is bohemian. I am bohemian.”

His lips twitched. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“How could you not know? I wear fun clothes, and interesting jewelry—”

“And scary black glasses to hide the fact that you’re incredibly pretty.”

Heat rushed through her, and her cheeks suddenly burned hot. Paige glanced down at her pathetic turkey sandwich with its limp lettuce leaf, no longer hungry. “I’m not trying to hide anything,” she said flatly. “I’m just being me.”

“I wasn’t criticizing you. I think you’re smart to be careful. Smart to keep some armor around you. The world is a hard, unforgiving place.”

That gave her pause, and she looked him over, seeing just possibly behind his charming, affable persona. “And here I thought you were such an optimist.”

“Sorry to disappoint you. You’re looking at a die-hard realist who naively—stubbornly?—clings to hope. Change is essential in life. If we can’t grow, can’t evolve, we won’t survive.”

“But it’s not enough to survive,” she said after a moment, feeling a peculiar tug on her heart. “Is it?”

He took a long moment to answer. “Not for me, no.”