“Yup. See you then.” I hung up and sighed. “Rose!”
“What?”
“When did the whole friend group decide that I was this responsible nerd who can’t even go off her schedule by one hour without losing her mind?”
“Er—since always? I mean… that’s always been your vibe, hasn’t it?”
I folded my arms over my chest, then thought better of it, and got up to grab some coffee and stop my pouting. So what if my friends thought I was a stick-in-the-mud? I knew I wasn’t, and the dream I just had proved it. They could go on believing whatever they wanted about me, and meanwhile, I could fantasize about sexy hallway guy and they would never be the wiser.
In my opinion, it was a win-win. The mystery man was my little secret and I intended on keeping it that way.
“C’mon Rose, hurry up!” I said, sipping my morning brew. “I’m really hungry and I want to get to the restaurant in the lobby before the morning rush.”
“I have to wash my hair,” she said through the closed door. “Go down there without me and get us a table!”
“Alright, but don’t be too long. I think it’s rude for someone to take up a full table when none of their party is actually there with them.”
“You’re such a rule-follower,” she said with a laugh.
“It’s just common courtesy,” I said, then started to get dressed and was out the door not five minutes later.
ChapterTwo
MATT
Adam and David were getting on my nerves that morning, so I decided to go get a cup of coffee at the café in the lobby and take some time away from all of my brothers.
I was really excited at first, when Kyle suggested that David and I invite our younger brothers along for the wedding, but after spending a few days in Hawaii, I realized this much time away from home—and this much time surrounded by my family—was starting to wear on me. I loved my brothers, and it was fun being in an all-inclusive resort like this one, but I missed my son and was more than ready to sleep in my own bed once again.
Down in the lobby, I was glad to see that there wasn’t a line forming at the entrance of the café. I walked in and the hostess said I could sit anywhere that was open. I took a seat at a table near the back corner with a view of the ocean through the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the water-facing wall of the building. I ordered a cup of coffee and some eggs. The waitress said she would be right back with my coffee, and I leaned back into my seat and relaxed into my morning.
Then—I saw her.
She was wearing light-washed jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Her auburn hair looked like she had tried to tame her bed head with an oversized scrunchie and only half succeeded. Her eyes were round and when they caught the light streaming in from the window, I noticed they were the color of caramel. She smiled as the waiter came by and took her order, then she took a book from the purse sitting on the chair next to her and began to read.
Openly staring, I forgot where I was and just took in the view of the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. Effortlessly so, she was pretty in an unassuming way, and that made her all the more attractive. I wondered if she was going to look up from her book any time soon, and then I wondered what she might think if she caught me looking right at her. Feeling nervous all of a sudden, I looked down at my lap and twiddled my thumbs.
“Here you go sir,” the waitress said, placing a cup of hot coffee in front of me. “Your food will be out shortly.”
“Thanks,” I said.
She walked away and I did my best to resist the urge to go back to watching that woman three tables over from mine. I didn’t want to be a weirdo, but I also wanted to know when she was going to get up and leave so that I could potentially leave at the same time—set up some way of meeting her that seemed accidental and cute. I could introduce myself, flirt a little… see where the morning took us.
Then a meaty hand clapped me on the back and gave me a start.
“There he is.” Kyle’s voice boomed out through the mostly empty café. “You turned in early last night, what happened?”
“I had to call Will and then I just felt like getting myself a sandwich to go and heading up to bed.”
“Will?” He frowned. “Oh right. William! Your son. I always forget you have a kid.” He shook his head. “That’s wild man.”
“Yeah, well, not really for me, but then again, I’ve had a kid for about ten years now so I guess the novelty has worn off.”
“Will is ten?” He balked.
“Almost eleven.”
He whistled. “Geez. I would’ve guessed he was six at most. But eleven? I can’t believe it’s been almost eleven years since that crazy night in Vegas.” He let out a big-belly laugh, came around and sat in the chair across from me. “Back then, I thought you were nuts for making a commitment like that to a girl you just met. Though, I would’ve thought you were nuts for making that kind of commitment to anyone back then. Now, I totally get it, man.”