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“Intriguing What’ll look good on me?”

She studiesher chin, then says, “Ask me after a drink and I’ll have a better answer”

“I’ll hold you to that,” I reply, but I’m not interested in clothes I am interested in that drink, however “By the way, I’y and preparation”

“Exactly And you have rules you go by for those things, right?” she teases

“I’d call them more like procedures”

She laughs

“Protocols,it on for size

“Okay, Mr Thesaurus,” she says

“Fine If I a?”

She shrugs “No, but I think you like to do things by the book I bet you always follow a recipe And there’s nothing wrong with that”

“Well, obviously Because that’s what a recipe is for—steps to lance her way “You don’t follow recipes?”

“I do not”

“How do you cook?”

“I don’t”

I wrap my head around that, then point out, “Then, you’re not not following a recipe”

“Oooooh,” she says, like I did sorauy after all”

We’ve reached her hotel The drive went by too fast

I stop the shuttle to drop her off, set the brake, and turn inforht am sharp”

She does another of those sassy salutes “Aye, aye, skipper O-eight-hundred hours On the dot”

But she doesn’t move

Neither do I

I want to linger in this moment where it’s just her andout between us

“Well, thanks for the ride,” she says at last “I ive e But thank you I appreciate it”

“It is part of the package, but you’re welco at the sa to you, even if you like to give me a hard time”

“But you can take it”

“I can indeed” Another pause, and then I ht”

“Good night, Caleb” She slips out of the bus, and I watch until she’s through the doors into the hotel

Then I dropwheel with a thunk

Why? Why, oh why, does she have to be pretty, witty, and totally endearing?

I thunkto knock some sense into myself