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Dawn hesitated “Maybe we should eat inside,” she said, and looked up at him

He knehat she was thinking, that this was aout here in this ro He decided not to crowd her

“Whatever you prefer I like it here It’s relaxed and pretty, but if you’d rather go in…”

“There are no tables available inside, se;atnorita If you don’tten, perhaps twenty minutes…?”

The breeze blew a strand of hair into Dawn’s eyes She shoved it back The choice wasn’t hers, it was fate’s, she thought, though she’d never believed in fate before

“No, it’s foolish to wait This is fine”

Gray pulled out her chair His hand brushed hers It was accidental, but nothing could have prepared hiers to his She pulled away as if he’d burned her Was she feeling the same kind of fear as when he kissed her, or was it different this time? He wanted it to be different,in a very long time

The realization caught him off balance He looked at Dawn, saw the same surprise mirrored in her eyes

A waitress appeared beside the table and introduced herself with the kind of senseless good cheer that usually ave a damn if you knehat their name was Now, he embraced the intrusion and when she handed hiave it farfor a California Chardonnay

“Is that okay with you?”

Dawn said it was Then she buried her face in theHe didn’t know this wo, sitting across fro as aard as a kid on his first date?

“Well,” he said, and almost winced He sounded more jovial than the waitress “Tell me about the weather here Is it always so hot?”

Brilliant Just brilliant Now they’d talk about the weather, and thenher watch and he’d do the saht, why in hell he’d i to be with her…

Except, it didn’t work out that way

They began eather but quickly, easily, s Books Movies The impossibility of tourists squeezed into polyester bermudas, Hawaiian shirts, black socks and shoes Daas easy to talk to She had a nice sense of humor, and, after a while, an easy s, and he felt so inside him soften when she explained, earnestly, how she’d once been a dealer and how she’d never felt comfortable about it because so many people didn’t seem to knohen to stop