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Chapter Six

With each step, ht I was going to topple forward into her lap Or, more likely, hit the corner of the bar and killout, and before I knew it I was already standing in front of her Too late to back out now My heart was pounding so nearly impossible Which didn&039;t matter, since my mind was blank, anyway

She was even prettier up close Her eyes were exceptionally large, lashes exorbitantly long, lips achingly full She was looking up atmy face

I noticed that the other rins No doubt they were looking forward to seeing irl in the roooes

"Um, hi," I said lamely

"Hi," she said Her eyes continued to roam over my face, and as they did so her se reaction gave , there wasn&039;t an obvious lack of interest

"My name&039;s James," I said

I&039;ve never really seen the blood drain from soht to see One moment her rosy cheeks were full and lush, and the next she went dead pale

"James?" she repeated

"Yes, last I checked" Okay, that was really la decidedly unlame, when she motioned to the stool next to her "Jaht over The dark-haired girl had his attention, too, and I was the beneficiary of that attention He asked what I wanted I glanced over to see what she was drinking It looked like cranberry juice and so I ordered soe juice The bartender shrugged and stepped away to pour e juice?

Lord help me

"So you don&039;t drink alcohol, Jae accent I&039;ve never been good with accents Heck, half these English blokes sounded Australian toto stay away fro alcoholic?"

"No, no Just don&039;t, you know, think I handle the stuff very well"

"I see," she said "Well, you were drinking &039;the stuff&039; earlier tonight A beer, if I recall"

Holy crap She&039;d been watching hts I tend to get, uerent drinker Give me one beer and I want to take on the whole roo how?" I asked

"It&039;s al, is trapped inside of you and is aching to get out"

"Yeah, an asshole who likes to fight"

"A fighter, yes But probably not an asshole"

"Say that to the olda little too loudly to his hard-of-hearing wife"

She laughed behind her hand, her eyes lighting up like two stage lights I liked the way she laughed I also liked the way she looked at ly round eyes Her apparent interest in e

"So what&039;s your name?" I asked

"Marion"

"I love that name"

"Really?"

"Reminds me of Maid Marian from Robin Hood"

"Except mine is spelled with an &039;o&039;"

"As it should be," I said for no reason at all

She s witty And still she didn&039;t take her eyes off e juice down in front ofIt was just a plain glass of orange juice In ht side, at least I wouldn&039;t be sporting any ehts

Okay, so how do guys hit on girls, anyway? I&039;ve never beenon&039; type I&039;m more of a we-just-happen-to-cross-paths type Granted, ets a lot fewer dates, but I have accepted my lot in life

"So are you from around here?" I asked

"No"

"Where are you from?"

Lord, this had to be the world&039;s worst pick-up ever Heck, I would even hesitate to call this a pick-up More like a prelude to utter humiliation

"Iceland," she said

I almost made a stupid Icelandic joke Hey, I heard it&039;s pretty cold there Hey, the land of ice Hey, I&039;m retarded

Somehow I kept my mouth shut And sadly, I know froives one-word answers, well, she&039;s probably not that into you; otherwise, she would give you ht?

And so, with her curious yet beautiful eyes still searching my face, I took my drink and stood I tried to smile as I said, "Well, enjoy your time here in Glastonbury, Marion with an &039;o&039;"

With that, I turned and left and found a small booth in the far corner of the far side of the rooazes of the otherI could think of to save face: I pulled out e

God, I need to get a life

I had just scrolled through soes when someone sat across from me at my table It was Marion, of course

"Sorry if I seemed rude back there," she said "It&039;s just that I wasn&039;t expecting to meet you so quickly" She paused, took a deep breath A deep, ragged breath As if she had jogged totodeeply, Marion reached inside her purse and removed a book: A tattered copy of my very first published novel, a mystery thriller called Unwanted Dreams

She held it out to me "This is you, is it not?"

I nodded dumbly, too stunned to speak

"Good," she said and shoved the book back into her purse "Finish your orange juice, James We have someone to meet"