Black

“Are you okay?”

A husky male voice startles the shit out of me. With my heart in the pit of my stomach, I spin around. “You scared me.”

The stranger smiles, showing off a line of pearly white teeth. “I’m sorry.” He takes a step back. “You look lost.”

Sighing, I turn back toward the building. “I am.”

“What are you looking for? Maybe I can help.”

“I’m not really sure. I thought this building looked familiar, but

I can’t place it.”

“This building?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

I nod, turning toward him. “I feel like I’ve been here before, with my dad.”

Pursing his lips, he looks at the building and then back at me. “It’s a strip club.”

“I can see that.”

“Your dad brought you to a strip club?”

“No,” I say, laughing. Did he? “And it sounds horrible when you say it out loud.”

“It is horrible.”

Shaking my head, I can’t help but giggle, grateful for the shred of levity this man offers to my shitty day.

“My dad died when I was a little girl.” The words tumble from my mouth as though this stranger is a long-lost friend. “I’m just trying to remember him, that’s all.”

With a tremulous smile, I look up. The stranger watches me with sympathetic eyes, but there’s something else swirling behind his dark brown gaze, something I can’t quite place. Curiosity, maybe? Whatever it is, it’s too intense, and I look away.

“I, uh… I should get going.”

He takes a step toward me. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“I didn’t offer it to you.”

The ghost of a smile plays at the corner of his mouth. “Well, you could. Over coffee, maybe?”

“I don’t drink coffee.”

“Dinner?”

I shake my head, smiling. “You’re relentless.”

“And you’re stubborn. It’s dinner. I can walk you around town, and we can stand in front of buildings that look familiar.”

I cock my head to the side. “Are you making fun of me?”

His smile falters. “Never.”

“I can’t.”

The look on his face says he doesn’t like my answer. “Can’t or won’t?”

“Both.”