“How did you know?”
“Because it’s horrible.” I started to laugh, but then suddenly tears sprung to my eyes out of nowhere.
“Did I upset you?” he asked.
“No.” I wiped my eyes. “I’m pretty sure they’re tears of joy. Because you’ve seriously made me so happy tonight.”
“Well…I’m glad. Truly. You’ve been through a lot. It makes my entire Christmas to know that I could bring some happiness to your holiday.”
A whiff of his delicious, manly scent wafted in my direction. There was no way I wanted to send this guy back out into the cold just yet.
“Do you have somewhere else to be?”
“I left my family party earlier, and probably won’t be heading back. I was just gonna head home.”
“Can I make you a cup of hot cocoa or something?”
His mouth spread into a smile. “I would seriously love that.”
“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.”
A chill ran down my spine as I made my way to the kitchen. I had a hard time believing that things happen for a reason, especially after the way my husband died. What was the reason for that, you know? It was totally unfair and nonsensical. So, in general, I’d always felt the idea of fate was one big lie. But something about this night certainly felt like fate. What were the chances that my son and the boy he had encountered were one and the same?
When I returned to the living room, I asked, “I hope you like marshmallows?”
“I do. Thank you,” he said as he took the mug from me.
I sat about a foot away from him on the couch and sipped my hot chocolate. “I’m sorry for running out the way I did,” I said. “Once I realized Mason was fine and I had a moment to grab my bearings, I thought about you a lot tonight and really regretted the fact that I’d likely never see you again.”
“Well, I guess we were meant to connect from the start. It’s funny to think that even if our competition hadn’t happened, I would’ve still shown up here tonight either way.”
I grinned. “That’s true, but I’m glad it happened this way. Because I might not have had the nerve to invite you in if I hadn’t met you before now.”
He put his mug down on the coffee table. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Yeah…”
“You said you haven’t dated much since your husband died?”
I looked down into my cocoa and shook my head. “No, I haven’t.”
“Before you left, I was going to ask you out, but I also wondered if that was even something you would consider…” He grabbed his mug again and took a sip.
I finally looked up at him. “I don’t want to be alone forever. I’ve considered getting back into the game. I do get…lonely.” I immediately regretted being so honest. But for some reason, I felt like opening up tonight.
“If you don’t mind my saying, it’s a damn shame for a woman like you to ever feel lonely. After you left, I seriously couldn’t think about anything else but your beautiful face.”
Goosebumps prickled on the skin of my arms. “Thank you.”
“If the accident hadn’t happened and I had asked you out earlier, what would you hav
e said—pending my giving up the robot fight, of course…”
I didn’t really have to think much about my answer.
“I would have said yes, and then I would’ve told you my last name wasn’t really Johanssen.”
He smiled from behind his mug. “Good to know.”