Page 14 of Her Reborn Mate

“Ouch. Okay, we’re not getting into that stuff. As long as you promise me you’re not wild about crocheting. My ex loved to crochet,” Lawrence said, giving me his arm. I took it after some thought and let him escort me out of the alley and onto the street.

“I hate crocheting. It’s like the perpetual habit of all single old women who keep a lot of cats in the house and eat only Spam and hotdogs for dinner. No crocheting, no cats, no Spam, and hotdogs,” I said. When I used to be with Will, I never got a lot of chances to speak my heart out about my observations about society because I knew that he’d be a complete alien to these remarks. Being with Lawrence was good like that.

He laughed at my remark and then opened the door of his Lexus for me.

“My, my, they must be paying you in six figures at your job,” I said. I had never been in a Lexus before. The inside was all leather and smelled of expensive cigar smoke.

“Hey, don’t knock the corporate ladder until you try it,” he said.

“Oh, I have done that. I worked at Beckett Pharma for a while,” I lied, wanting to impress him by showing him that I wasn’t a complete hick.

“Holy shit, really?”

Then I spun a yarn about how I had applied there and had worked there as an intern and felt terrible when I saw that he was listening intently and accepting everything that I was saying word for word. What a gullible guy, I thought.

“Man, that sounds like a wild ride. Compared to my boring old desk job, yours sounds like a hoot and a half,” Lawrence said.

“No more shop talk. We’re out to have fun. Take me someplace where I can feel like a little girl again,” I said.

“So, Emerson Elementary School, is it?”

I threw my head back and laughed. He chuckled mirthfully in response.

We ended up going roller skating. Lawrence was a perfect gentleman through and through, holding me whenever I was about to fall, asking the DJ to change the tracks to the ones I liked, and buying me snacks from the Tuck Shop in the rink every few minutes.

I was stuffed and tired by the time our date ended.

“I had fun, didn’t you?” I asked, feeling the flush on my cheeks return.

“I felt like a little girl,” Lawrence said. “Especially when we danced to Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin.’”

“You’re silly,” I said, slapping him on the shoulder after we got out of the car.

“Well, I had a lovely time, and I’d like to do it again if you want,” he said.

“Okay, but space it out. Come to me the day after tomorrow,” I said.

“Or tomorrow?” he asked.

“Someone’s a little eager,” I said.

“I just feel like we have this connection. I don’t want to spend time away from you. It’s clingy, I know, but still…”

“Okay, you can come tomorrow.”

Lawrence came forward, leaning close to my face.

I put my hand on his chest and pushed him back.

“I’m sorry. I am still mourning my ex-boyfriend. He sort of died, and then…I don’t want to get into it. It’s just, it’s all too raw. I hope you understand,” I said.

He lifted his hands and stepped back. “I completely get it. I’m sorry. Handshake?”

I smiled through pressed lips and shook his hand.

“I’m sorry,” I said again.

“Hey, don’t apologize to me. I get it. I’m sorry for advancing without consent. That was wrong. I misread the situation,” Lawrence said.