"It couldn't be! It can't be him!" the thought raced through my mind as I turned slowly to face him. One look at the angular handsome curves of his face, the inquiring gray eyes, and the lock of dark hair hanging over his forehead told me it was him! He was here and that is something I had never expected. My world turned upside down! I pasted a smile on my face and tried to still the frantic jerk of my heartbeat as I faced him. I tried to act cool but I knew from the blush in my face that I could not hide how deeply flustered I was. "How did he get here and I didn't know he was coming?" the question kept pounding in my head. It was not the question that came out of my mouth though. "You're Rory, aren't you?" "Yep, in the flesh. Surprised?" he answered. "That is an understatement!" my astonished remark came out before I could stop it. He laughed a deep sensual laugh and turned an absolutely "knock you off your feet" smile at me. I was beginning to sweat and melt at the same time. He was obviously enjoying my startled discomfort but something hesitant in his manner told me that he was not as composed as he seemed to be. He was afraid to! That thought helped me relax some. "Will you be able to get a break soon?" he ask softly. "In about an hour I can go to lunch." I replied. "Good then I will be back to take you to lunch if that is okay?" he tendered. "That will be fine." I answered as calmly as I could and fought to suppress the thrill of joy running through me at the idea of being able to spend time with him alone. "Good, see you in an hour, Jenny." Rory stated and then saundered off in the sexist stride I had ever seen. I watched him for a moment and then returned to my job at the register. However, the whole atmosphere of the huge book store faded away and it took a customer's voice saying "Miss? Miss?" to bring me back to reality. Thankfully, I was well conditioned to my job and during the next hour, I was able to work and also think. Rory was someone I knew well but not in person. I had met him through an online book club discussion group and there had been an instant friendship. When we chatted online, I found myself being responsive and relaxed in my answers to him. He seemed to be the same. Yet, for me, it had made no sense because I had sworn off love forever after the disaster of my last relationship. It hurts to love someone and not have them love you! You never want to face the truth until you get hurt enough and you have to face it. Well, I had finally faced it, accepted it, and settled down to spend the rest of my life with a promise to myself to never get involved again...that is until Rory had come along. Now, here he was for real and I could not find the sense of dread I had always expected to have if I ever met him in person. He was just as infectiously delightful in person as he was online. While I mulled all of this over in my mind, the hour seemed to fly by. All too soon it was time to go and Rory was there waiting. Still shaking, I gathered my purse and stepped from behind the counter. He met me as I stepped out. He extended his hand for mine and as soon as I touched it, a gentle sense of calmness came over and I knew without any explanation that this was just right! We were going to be so good together!
