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I was dressed and ready by four forty-five I sank down on the edge of hs of lanced at the clock Only one minute had passed since the last ti way off

An idea hit ht started

I PULLED IN FRONT of Shaw’s house at half past five, the heavenly aro to er-side floorboard At five, there was no line at Mulvaney’s I only had to wait ten uy like Shaw could eat his weight in food so I’d ordered two large sides of Tijuana fries and fried pickles to go along with our burgers

I eyed Shaw’s truck, relieved he was here Only after picking up dinner fro fro from the floorboard, I exited the car My boots thudded up the front porch steps I knocked on the front door and hitloose some of the snow so that I didn’t track it into his house A fullto appear overly impatient Maybe he hadn’t heardto feel foolish for co whether to knock for a third time or just skulk away I could toss the food and show up at seven like we had originally planned

God, when did I turn into one of those girls? The kind as always second-guessing herself when it cauy Clearly From the first moment I met him he had been different I had been different

I’d started to turn ahen the door was suddenly pulled open

"Ehtly to the bottoers, but I didn’t care It was nothing co hi there damp from the shower, a torapped loosely at his waist

"Hi" My voice was strained and breathless I lifted the bag in e of plans"

His dark eyes scanned rin I was co in?"

"Hope you don’t ? A beautiful woht be in love"

My smile froze on my face Heat swarmed my body and I knew I must be every shade of red from the neck up

It was just an expression A joke Of course it was a joke, but everything inside me seized with a mixture of fear and hope

And that’s when I kneanted the words to be true