How does one act normal and composed when one of the hottest, most popular movie stars of the year just kissed you and made you moan with pleasure? Exactly. It can’t be done.
When Ashley excitedly announced that we would have dinner with the boys before parting ways again, I felt more anxious than Jess during that mud bath. There was no way I’d be able to eat and make conversation with Justin right there. I made a deal with myself to sit at the opposite end of the table so I could avoid him altogether. We could always catch up later, after everyone had gone home and we could be alone.
We headed to a Mexican restaurant a block from the laser warehouse. Ashley had conveniently positioned herself so that she’d be walking next to Justin. We were barely out of the door when she was laughing and touching him again. Only this time, it didn’t bother me like it had before, because it was my lips he’d kissed, not hers.
“How are you doing?” Suzie asked, catching up with me. “It seems like we’ve hardly had any time to properly talk today.”
“Everything is a-okay. No calls from the inn, no frantic Diane trying to get me to set up a table to sell vacuum cleaners at the wedding, no escaping ducks, and no unsatisfied customers. So, yeah, it’s all gooood.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Is something up? You’re all sweaty and starry-eyed.”
“It was intense in there. I did a lot of running, hence the red face. I’ll be feeling it tomorrow for sure,” I said. Then I stretched my arms above my head for good measure.
Suzie didn’t look entirely convinced by my rendition of McSporty Girl, but didn’t press the issue.
“Too bad we couldn’t take a shower at that place.” She pulled her t-shirt to air it out. “I’m all sweaty. It’s a good thing we won, though.”
“We did?” I asked.
“Addy, you can’t keep fooling me. You didn’t realize we’d won? Something is definitely up.”
I shrugged. I didn’t want to tell her about my sizzling kiss. Not before I’d had time to process it or before I talked to Justin. What if it was a one-off thing for him? I fiercely hoped it wasn’t, though. I craved more of the same.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” I said. “I’m just feeling a bit light-headed from barely eating all day.”
“Oh, okay. Good thing we’ll be eating soon, then. I’m starving as well, to be honest.”
We all stepped inside of the restaurant and a waiter led us to a long table with eight chairs on either side. I managed to sit down at the far end, with Justin having to take a seat at the other side of the table. Good. At least with this distance between us, I’d be able to eat and avoid being a nervous stress ball.
Or so I thought. Ashley had to ruin my little plan.
“Excuse me, would it be possible to sit outside?” she asked the waiter.
“Of course, not a problem at all,” he said.
We all got up again, the sound of chairs scraping across the floor filling the air. Layla’s inflatable toy poked a waiter in the eye, and Jess dropped a blotch of hand sanitizer on the floor, but apart from that, no major dramas unfolded.
The outside area was decked out with wooden tables, colorful lanterns, and benches that sported cute throw pillows. The atmosphere was way cozier out there.
I once again managed to grab a seat at the far end of the table. Ashley plopped down next to me and waved to Justin, who was about to go sit at the other end of the table. “Here, I’ve saved you a spot. No need to go sit all the way over there.”
He hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting toward mine. As soon as they met, I felt warmth creep into my cheeks, and I turned my head away.
“Addy and I don’t bite, you know,” Ashley said. She followed the words with one of her over-the-top hahaha, I’m so funny laughs.
Brianna was about to sit down opposite me, but Ashley threw her a fake smile. “I’m so sorry, but that seat’s taken. Isn’t that right, Justin?”
“Sure. Yeah, it seems like that’s where I’m going to sit,” he said.
I didn’t like it one bit, but he was right to take Ashley up on her offer. Otherwise it would’ve raised suspicion, and the last thing I wanted was him to draw attention to us. What single guy wouldn’t want to sit across from a beautiful girl like Ashley during a friendly dinner?
Brianna scooted over and Justin sat down next to her. This was just great. Not only was he right across from me, his knees touched mine under the table. Why did he have to be so tall? Normal-sized would’ve worked better in this predicament.
I blocked the view I had of Justin’s perfect face with my menu and read it as if it was a critically acclaimed masterpiece. Never had I studied the description of fajitas so closely.
“Tell me, Justin, what’s going on in your life?” Ashley asked, her voice syrupy sweet. “I hear you’re still single?”
From behind my menu, I heard him cough. “Kind of.”
“Kind of?” Ashley asked, her brows furrowed. “Shouldn’t you know whether or not you have a girlfriend?”
My heart picked up speed. I wasn’t Justin’s girlfriend. All we had done was share a heavenly kiss, but we hadn’t discussed what it all meant. I lowered my menu to peek at him.
“Let’s say I’m single, but interested in someone,” he said, not able to contain a smile.
I looked away and scanned the menu options. Would you look at that. The fajitas came with a serving of homemade, award-winning guacamole. Oh wow, and extra servings of sour cream could be requested for only a dollar more.
“Really?” Ashley asked, her eyes sparkling. “So am I. What a coincidence.”
Did she assume Justin was talking about her? I lowered my menu to right below my eyes.
“You know,” Ashley started, “if you are interested in this girl, I’m sure she would say yes if you asked her out.”
Oh, puh-lease. Way to be subtle, Ash.
“I’ve asked her out already,” Justin said. “It ended with her hiding in a pantry.”
Brianna leaned in, eager to get the latest dirt on his love life. “That sounds intense. Is she in the acting business too?”
Justin pinned me down with a look while answering. “You could say that. She keeps saying she hates me, but tell me, would you girls kiss a guy you hated?”
What words were these? And when was that waiter arriving to take our order?
Brianna scrunched up her nose in disgust. “There’s this one guy at work I can’t stand. I don’t even want to sit next to him during lunch time, let alone have him touch my mouth.”
Justin nodded. “My thoughts exactly. And yet this girl kissed me in the most mind-blowing way.”
I hid back behind my menu.
“Having trouble deciding, Addy?” Justin asked.
“Maybe.”
Next to me, Ashley shifted in her seat, her expression full of shock. Then she elbowed me in the side and joined me behind the safety of the laminated menu pages.
“You could’ve told me he’s involved with someone,” she said with a hiss.
“I didn’t know until today,” I said, keeping my voice low. “Trust me, this is all brand-new information to me. I’m still processing it myself.”
Ashley crossed her arms over her chest. She had the same expression a kid has when he doesn’t get the toy he asked for.
“Well, I’m sorry for whoever this girl is, but I’m not stopping until I get what I want.”
The determined look on her face made me cringe in my seat.
The waiter appeared at our table again to take our order. I went for the fajitas with the award-winning guac and an extra portion of sour cream.
“I’ll have the same as her,” Justin said as I put my menu down.
“Why?” I asked.
He exhaled patiently. “Why not?”
Brianna waggled her finger between us. “You two are acting weird.”
“Justin always acts weird,” I said. “It’s his default behavior.”
A foot touched my shin, and I jumped in my seat. This resulted in quite a few confused stares. “Sorry. There was something on my leg.”
Justin snickered. I rolled my eyes at him, but inside I was rocking out to an upbeat song. He liked me. It was my leg he’d just touched under the table.
Our drinks arrived and Justin put his fork to his glass. Fifteen heads perked up, several people getting their phone out to film whatever he was going to say.
“I’d like to make a toast,” he started. “I’ve known Asher my entire life and he’s become like a brother to me. We grew up in Old Pine Cove together, where we had the best adventures. I’m so happy to see him with Layla. You two are such a beautiful couple.”
An echo of aww went through the group.
“I also want to use this moment as an opportunity to apologize.”
Layla’s face went ashen. “What did you do?”
Justin laughed. “I didn’t do anything to you two. This apology concerns Addy. She told me she would accompany me to Asher and Layla’s wedding under the condition that I publicly apologized to her.”
“Really?” Ashley said, giving me the stink eye. “He’s taking you to the wedding?”
“That depends on this speech,” I said.
Ugh. Did she really have to make it sound like it was unbelievable he would ask me to be his date to the wedding?
“Addy,” Justin said, his full attention now on me. “I treated you in several not-so-nice ways back in high school. I ruined your science project. I came up with that horrible nickname. I laughed at you when you tripped in the cafeteria. I put that fake Valentine’s card in your locker—”
“That was you?”
For years I had thought I had a mystery admirer. What an anticlimax to find out it was another one of Justin’s antics.
“It was, and I’m sorry. I admit there are better ways to get a girl’s attention. Believe me when I say that I was trying to get you to like me. Weird way of going about it, I know. I was a jerk and I truly feel sorry about all of it. I hope you can forgive me so that I can take you to the wedding.”
I swallowed. “Yes, I do. Accept the apology, I mean. I don’t mean I do as in I want to marry you.”
Shut up, Addy. Please.
The entire group laughed and clinked their glasses together while I froze in my seat. Why did I talk about marrying the guy?
“Isn’t that girl you kissed going to be pissed when she finds out that you’re taking another girl to a wedding?” Ashley asked.
Justin sat down again and took a long swig of his beer. The tension was killing me. He’d better have a convincing, fake explanation, because I didn’t want the truth to be out there already.
“I doubt she’ll be mad,” he said.
Good. Our secret was safe. For the time being anyway.
Ashley and Brianna exchanged a look. Brianna mouthed “player” and Ashley shrugged as if she didn’t even care. The girl had no morals. Well, she was not going to get her hands on Justin. Not if I had a say in it.
I excused myself to go to the bathroom. When I was mid-pee, Justin’s whispered voice reached me through the toilet doors. “Addy, you in there?”
“Just a minute,” I said.
I wondered why he had followed me in there. I finished as fast as humanly possible, washed my hands, and rearranged my hair. Justin was standing just outside the bathroom entrance, looking as if he could get busted any minute. For what, I had no idea. Standing near a restaurant bathroom entrance wasn’t exactly cause for calling the police on someone.
He leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear. The hairs on my neck shot up despite the fact that it was anything but cold in there. “We can’t talk here, but meet me tomorrow at noon at the inn’s parking lot.”
I laughed so hard I needed to put my hand in front of my mouth to temper the sound. “Meet you tomorrow at noon? Are you planning to do a drug deal with me?”
He grinned. “Since kissing you makes me high, you could say I am indeed planning a drug deal.”
“Shut up,” I said and slapped his chest. It was awfully firm. “What if someone hears you?”
“Who would hear us out here? I checked the perimeter seconds ago.”
I motioned in the direction of the restaurant. “People having dinner. Our friends. A handful of crazy fans of yours who have tracked you down.”
“Tomorrow. Noon. Don’t be late,” he said, skillfully ignoring my concerns. Then he disappeared into the men’s bathroom.
I didn’t have the faintest clue of what he had planned for noon the next day, but it would absolutely include kissing him again, and that was really all I needed to know.