Rule 5: Seduce him with your eyes! Make eye contact throughout your conversations with him! Never break eye contact!
Rule 8: Let your inner beauty shine! Show him the wonderful treasure that lies within you!
Rule 22: Don’t answer questions right away! Take a few moments before you answer!
Kelly pulled out a chair at the restaurant table and plopped down. It smelled like refried beans and taco meat inside. It was Sydney’s idea to come to the Mexican restaurant, though she’d had to fight with Drew over it.
He wanted Italian, she wanted Mexican. Since it was her night of celebration, she’d eventually won the argument and here they were. Alexia sat on Kelly’s left side, Raven on her right. Drew, Sydney, and Todd were on the other side of the table, Ben at the head.
Spanish music played from a jukebox highlighted red with neon lights. Musical instruments hung on the walls along with a flamenco skirt and pictures of a Spanish band who’d inspired the opening of the restaurant in Birch Falls.
For a Thursday night, the restaurant was packed. The group had to wait more than ten minutes for one of the bigger tables to open up in back. Now that they were seated, the waitress took their orders and hurried into the back, her bright red skirt swinging around her calves.
The table was a mix of several conversations. The guys talked sports while Raven and Alexia chatted about music. Sydney was decidedly quiet for having just won a contest, despite the fact that she was glowing. She wouldn’t come right out and say she was proud of herself for winning, but anyone could tell just by looking at her. A permanent smile was on her face and every few minutes, she’d get this faraway look in her eyes like she was somewhere else.
Kelly didn’t blame her. The picture Sydney had taken of Kenny earlier this year was a really good picture. Kelly wouldn’t pretend to know anything about photography, but the sun shining down on Kenny, it was like heaven had opened up or something. That had to be a sign of good photography skills, right?
But Drew…he didn’t seem that impressed with the whole thing. He’d congratulated Sydney, offered to treat her to dinner, but he just didn’t seem as excited as he should be.
Maybe because he expected this kind of thing from Sydney? Because she was good at everything she did?
Then again, Kelly had sensed a bit of distance between the two for some time now. It wasn’t anything she could explain in words, it was more a physical sense. Not to mention, he’d been spending a lot more time over at Kelly’s house hanging out with Todd.
“You should have seen him last weekend,” Todd said, giving Drew a friendly pat on the back, his voice growing louder by the second. “We’re down by six, right, and we’re twenty yards off from the end zone and Drew catches the ball and he takes off! He’s dodging guys, jumping over them. Dude, I haven’t seen him play like that in forever!”
“I’m sorry I missed it,” Ben said.
“Yeah,” Todd added, “because you’re just a boy toy now, always hanging out with your girlfriend instead of your guys.”
Ben snorted. “You’re just jealous!”
Todd rolled his eyes, but quieted down. “No I’m not.”
Drew laughed and shook his head. He met Kelly’s eyes across the table.
Never break eye contact!
Rule five, Kelly thought. There was more to the rule, but she suddenly couldn’t remember it. The very first thing Kelly noticed about Drew when she met him so long ago was his eyes. He had uncanny blue eyes, eyes that Kelly had fallen in love with as a little girl.
Sydney nudged Drew, and he looked away.
Kelly blinked, straightened in her chair. She tried tuning into Raven and Alexia’s conversation, but she couldn’t help listening in on Sydney and Drew. Sydney wanted to go for a walk in the state park after dinner, he wanted to hang out at Kelly’s house with Todd.
When Drew finally agreed to the walk, Kelly’s heart sank. It was fun having Drew over at her house. Maybe instead she’d invite Adam out somewhere, if she could summon the courage to ask him out.
Two days later, Kelly still hadn’t asked out Adam. What if he said no? She couldn’t take the rejection.
Instead of going out on Saturday, she’d taken an extra shift at the animal shelter.
“Come on, Clove,” she said, trying to coax the gray adult cat forward. He cowered in the back corner of his kennel, amber eyes wide, watching her. He wasn’t hissing yet, which was a good sign. But then again, cats could attack without giving any notice.
That’s why Kelly had on plastic safety glasses and thick gloves. Morris, the animal control officer, always made fun of her when she put the gear on, but she wasn’t willing to lose an eyeball because of some crazy cat. Better to look silly than be sorry.
She never would have worn this stuff if Will were still working here, though.
Thankfully, once he graduated from Birch Falls High, he put in his two weeks’ notice with the shelter. Kelly had the whole summer to enjoy working with the animals without having to worry what Will thought of her.
Of course, if she still had Will, or anyone for that matter, she wouldn’t have picked up this extra shift at the shelter.
Being single, she had a lot of free time on her hands. It benefited the shelter, at least. She was working here over twenty hours a week and was loving every minute of it.
After coaxing Clove from his kennel and settling him into a clean one, Kelly left the cat room. She went down the short hallway to the front lobby, stopping abruptly when she saw Adam standing on the other side of the counter.
“Adam!”
He looked up and half laughed. “You look so official in those gloves and glasses.”
Rule number…what was it? Whichever it was, it said to let your inner beauty shine! And she totally just screwed that rule up!
She shook off the gloves and tore off the glasses.
Morris tried to mask his snort/laugh. Kelly shot him a death look, but he couldn’t stop himself. He would never let her forget this moment.
Adam picked up a cardboard box. “They found these behind McDonald’s,” he said. “A litter of six kittens.”
Morris took the box over the counter and handed it to Kelly. She set it on the floor.
“Aww!” She picked up a black and white kitten and nuzzled it with her nose. “I love kittens.”
“Me, too,” he said.
“Really?”
Adam shrugged. “My grandma had a farm when I was little and there were always kittens running around. She used to say they were like sunshine and velvet.”
Kelly scratched the kitten behind the ear, then ran her fingers over its soft furry back. “They are kind of like velvet, aren’t they?”
Morris sauntered off to get the paperwork ready for the intake. Kelly set her kitten back in the box and lifted it up.
“Here.” Adam came around the long counter and took the box out of her hands. “Let me help.”
“You’re sure?”
He nodded. “Just lead the way.”
Kelly petted an orange tiger kitten once more before setting him inside the big kennel with his brothers and sisters. They had a clean litter box, fresh food, and water.
“Thanks,” Kelly said, turning to Adam. “That was nice of you to bring them in and help get them settled.”
“My pleasure.” He pulled his car keys from his jeans pockets. “So…uh…do you have to work tomorrow night?”
She managed to shake her head no.
Trepidation roared up Kelly’s throat like a tidal wave. Was Adam going to ask her out? It sure seemed like he was going to ask her out. What was she going to say if he asked her out?!
“Would you like to go to Bershetti’s with me?”
Kelly just stared at him. He was asking her out. She smelled like a litter box and probably looked like one, too. And he was still asking her out? Was this some kind of joke? Did Raven or Alexia put him up to this?
No, they wouldn’t, which meant…
He was asking her out!
Adam raised his brow. “Kelly?”
Adam and Kelly…that did have a nice ring to it, didn’t it?
“Kelly?”
He grinned.
She took in a deep breath, hoping to calm her rapidly beating heart. “I mean, yes, I’d love to go. Sunday at Bershetti’s at, say, seven?”
“Sounds good.” He continued to fidget with his keys. “I’ll see you then.” He tipped his head by way of saying good-bye. Kelly waved, feeling like the biggest goober in the world. At least he hadn’t taken back the dinner offer. That was a good sign, right?