Page 21 of See You Maybe
She frowned and mentally shook herself.
I’ll just be casual. Adults do this all the time.
This. Is. Not. A. Big. Deal.
But, when she stepped out of the bathroom, a question about his breakfast preference on her lips, it died on an exhale. Less than five seconds confirmed what she knew instantly.
The bed was rumpled, but empty.
Her Irish vacation fling was gone.
Why do I feel so disappointed?
Cocooned in her towel, Olivia tumbled into the bed and pulled the duvet over her head. Her last thought before drifting off again was no one can ever know.
“Rise and shine.” Warm lips pressed into hers before pulling away too soon and the air around her filled with the intoxicating smell of coffee.
“I thought you left.”
“Just to get coffee.”
“Ah.” Olivia took several grateful sips, trying to get her brain to fully engage and make sense of the intense feeling of relief she had at seeing him on the side of her bed.
Olivia pushed to a sitting position and studied him over the cup. He wore the same dark Henley and perfectly faded jeans as the night before. Her imagination hadn’t failed her. He was the best-looking man she’d ever seen, and for whatever reason, she was entirely comfortable sitting in a towel in front of him.
Was she still dreaming?
“What’s wrong?”
Olivia glanced at him, surprised. He pulled the chair in the room over to the bed, and slouched in it, resting his sock-covered, crossed feet on the foot of the bed. “You’ve gone all… pinchy.”
“I don’t know your name,” she admitted.
He smiled then, eyes twinkling. “Declan.”
“Right,” she smiled back, “I’m?—”
“Rose. I know.” He chuckled. “A strange bride wrote it on your arm.”
What the hell is he talking about? Oh?—
“Named for your Grandma Rose, who doesn’t take shit, but also you wear rose perfume because it reminds you of her.”
Oh god! Should she admit her first name wasn’t Rose? That she’d been so wasted a complete stranger had to write her name on her arm with cosmetics like a dog’s ID tag. ‘Hi, my name is Rose, and if you found me, my mommy is ugly crying.’
She sipped her coffee to buy time.
I mean, my name is Rose. My middle name anyway. It’s not like I’ll see him again.
“Did I share any other tidbits with you last night?”
“Other than declaring your undying devotion to me as long as we both live?” He broke off with a laugh. “I’m kidding.”
“You’re hilarious,” Olivia groused. But something was picking at her brain. Something she’d forgotten, and it was important. “Oh my god!” Her spine went ramrod straight. “I’ve missed my flight, haven’t I? What time is it? Where’s my phone? Oh my god! My flatmates must think I’m dead.”
She swung her legs to the side, sloshing her coffee, only to freeze when Declan extended her phone in his large hand. “You’re all good.”
“What are you doing with my phone?” she asked suspiciously.