He didn’t seem at all put off by my clipped response.
“I’m glad I ran into you again. I was actually going to go looking for you after the meeting, so you saved me the footwork.”
I let out a soft chuckle, figuring he was just saying that. From the comment Calvin had made about him being on the wheel before with a lot of ladies, to the trio of bombshells that we’d run into as soon as we got off the ride, I was sure that I probably didn’t even register as a blip on his radar.
“I’m serious. I needed to return this to you.”
I felt Jimmy stop beside me. When I turned I saw that he’d held out his hand. My eyes dropped down to see that in his palm was my earring.
“Oh my gosh! Where did you find it?” I picked it up and examined it. It was definitely my mother’s. One of the prongs was misshapen. I’d thought about getting it fixed but somehow the imperfection made it more personal.
“I found it on the boat.”
I didn’t care about him mentioning our now-embarrassing meeting. I was just so relieved to have the earring back. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much these mean to me,” I gushed as I put it back in my ear.
Jimmy put his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have said that he was nervous. But that’d be ridiculous. Besides the impression I’d gotten that he didn’t really suffer from any sort of shyness, Cheyenne had said as much. She’d talked about how easy-going and self-assured he was. Surely, I had to be misreading the signals he was giving off.
“How long are you gonna be in town?” Even his voice didn’t sound quite as confident as it had in the past.
“I’m not sure.” I’d only planned on staying the weekend before heading out on my next adventure, but each second I stayed in Firefly had felt like more of an adventure than the last.
“What are your plans? Later. Tonight?”
“Um…” I started to say that I was going to be hanging out with friends. But if he asked me who, I’d have to confess that it was Mrs. B and her friends, and we’d be playing mahjong. That wasn’t exactly sexy. All of my insecurities from never fitting in returned with a vengeance.
“Or tomorrow?” He offered. “I have tours booked all day, but I’m free after seven. I’d love to see you again.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Good. Now what’s your number?” He pulled out his phone and clarified as he pressed his thumb on the home key to unlock it. “For Cheyenne.”
“Actually, I think I’d be more comfortable if you just gave me her number,” I teased.
His eyes shot up to mine and when he saw that I was joking, his lips pulled up in a smile. A smile that I knew, even if I had eighty more years on this earth, I’d never get tired of seeing.