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Carly was right. He needed to be somewhere else—anywhere else but in that cafe, with her. But he couldn’t leave. He’d waited so long to finally meet her. And disappointed as he was that WillowCup717 turned out to be Carly, he was also finding it difficult to walk away. Had they not gotten to know each other online, Mick probably wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. But now it was different. His attraction to her was growing stronger by the minute—with every smile she gave him. Every glance. Every flick of her hair. Every word spoken. He wanted to tell her that he was NYJedi007.
He knew that he should tell her the truth—but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. It would just have to work out some other way.
“When did you get so chatty anyway?” Carly asked him.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you’ve always been so serious. I could never really get more than a few sentences out of you before.”
Mick raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you saying you’ve tried to get my attention in the past?” he asked with a grin. Are you flirting with her? You can’t flirt with her! She’s too young! “I’m still serious.”
Carly laughed. “There’s something about you that’s just—I don’t know—different.”
“Hey, Carly? Mick?” Charlotte called from the cafe counter. “Closing soon, okay?”
Carly checked her watch. “Oh goodness! Where has the time gone?” She got up from her seat.
Mick looked around and found that they were the last customers at the cafe. He did the same as Carly and pulled out his wallet. “Sorry, Charlotte,” he said as he walked towards the counter.
“No, don’t be silly. You guys can stay,” Charlotte said. “I’m just going to carry on closing up.”
“You go on home, Charlotte,” Carly offered. “I’ll close up.”
“No—”
“No, seriously. It’s my fault. It was supposed to be the night that I fell in love, but... ah, well!” Carly went behind the counter and ushered Charlotte out. “Go on, scoot! Get yourself back home to the twins.”
“Really, Carly, I don’t mind. And besides, if the fella didn’t show—then it’s probably for the best. He lost his chance at a gem.” Charlotte pulled Carly into a hug.
“You know, Carly’s right,” Mick said. “Get yourself home to the kids. Don’t worry, I’ll stay with her.”
“Don’t worry?” Carly pulled herself away from Charlotte’s embrace and wrinkled her nose at him. “What? You think I can’t close up on my own?”
Mick furrowed his brows. “I’m just saying that I’ll stay with you until you lock up.”
“Fine, fine. I’m going home. But only if Mick stays with you.”
Mick winked at Carly. “See?”
“What? No, you can’t.” Carly protested.
“I don’t want you moping around like a sick puppy.” Charlotte yanked Mick by the sleeve of his shirt and led him into the kitchen. “The dishwasher’s been stacked. You just need to turn it on. Wipe the counter tops down with some disinfectant and throw the dirty cloths into the laundry bag in the back,” she told him.
“Charlotte, I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself,” Carly said, her hands on her hips.
“I know you are. Mick—maybe not so much!” Charlotte gave Carly and Mick a peck on the cheek each. “Don’t forget to lock both the front and back doors.”
Charlotte flipped the door sign over to CLOSED and waved as she shut the door behind her. “G’night!”
Mick turned to Carly and clapped his hands together. “Right! So where do we start?”
“We don’t start anything,” Carly said. “You are leaving, and I’m going to close up.”
“What? No. Charlotte said that—”
“Oh, no, no, no, never mind what Charlotte said. I don’t need you feeling sorry for me.” Carly turned her back on him and tied an apron around her waist.
* * *
AS CARLY PUT HER APRON on, it dawned on her once more that she had been stood up by the one person she’d been wanting to meet for the last six months. “I’m quite capable of feeling sorry for myself,” she snapped. She could feel the tears building up behind her eyes. Darn it! Do not cry!
“Carly, I’m not—” The confusion on poor Mick’s face was not to be missed, but she couldn’t help it.
“You really should go.” Carly turned her back on Mick. She didn’t want him to see her cry.
“Hey, listen... I’m not here because I feel sorry for you.”
“Then what?”
Mick took Carly by the waist and spun her around to face him. She looked up into his eyes and felt a tumble in her stomach.