Next, she reached in and found some bills. She pulled a handful of money out. “Hobi! This is too much!”
“Not at all! I feel sure you had some cash in there!”
“Not nearly this much! Here! Take it back,” she shoved the bills towards him.
He shook his head, repelling her hand with his own. “No! That’s not much. Really! Keep it!” He frowned. “I keep thinking…if I’d just been a little quicker last night, I could have prevented it from being stolen.”
“Hobi! It was not your fault!”
“If I hadn’t slowed you down by arguing over the sunglasses…”
“I’m glad you did.”
His head snapped up, and he looked straight at her. “What?”
She kept thinking about the envelope in her new bag. What had he written inside it? Tears filled her eyes. Again. What was it about this guy that he kept making her cry?
“If it hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t have had today with you.”
Hobi’s eyes flooded with a sweet emotion. Then he smiled. “Well, there is that.” His smile faded as he reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I’m very glad that we chose the same breakfast spot today.”
His fingers were lingering behind her ear. His eyes were caressing her face. He really wanted to kiss her. But he kept thinking it wouldn’t be fair to her. He was leaving in the morning, moving on to Tokyo. So instead of leaning towards her, he tilted his head to indicate the bag. “What else is in there?”
Her fingers brushed the envelope again. She pulled it out and set it on her lap. Then she reached in and pulled out…
“A hairbrush? And a comb?” She smiled as she withdrew them. She was curious to see what else he’d filled her backpack with. Suddenly, she glanced up at him. “How did you have time to do this?”
“You give me too much credit. I didn’t. I had one of our staff help me. I was hoping she’d have a better idea what a girl carries around with her than I would. My only contribution was the cash and the envelope.”
“And I’m assuming you paid for everything, the bag included,” she murmured dryly.
He shrugged. “Well, yeah.”
“Hobi, you are such a darling. You know that, don’t you?”
Again, he shrugged, a self-deprecating smile on his lips. “I’m all right.”
“Hobi,” she laughed. “You are definitely better than all right! Most guys wouldn’t have cared one whit that someone stole my bag. Let alone try to make it up to me.”
She glanced back down into the bag as her fingers unearthed three packages of gum. “Three?”
“I didn’t know what flavor you liked.”
“I think you’ve about covered it with all of these.” Her hand went fishing again. She pulled out a little fingernail grooming kit. She smiled.
“I think that’s about all she put in there. I figured you’d have some of your own stuff to fill it up.”
She pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen. That seemed to be the end of it. All she needed to add was a pair of tweezers, a couple of hair bands, some lip balm, and her new credit card. Thankfully, her house key and her phone had been in her pocket last night.
She put everything back into her bag, except for the envelope. She sat staring down at it. “Hobi, what did you put in here?”
“It’s a secret. For you to discover later,” he smiled at her.
She wished later were now. But it wasn’t. And she would respect his wishes. She slid the envelope back into the bag. And closed the golden zipper. Loving the smoothness with which it set its teeth back in order as she tugged on its pull tab. She smiled. Then she turned her head to peer up at Hobi.
“Thank you. For this bag. And all its contents. And for breakfast. Twice.” She had realized earlier today as she watched him dance that he must have paid for her first breakfast when she’d passed out. “And for rescuing me. Twice. And for this whole, amazing day.”
Hobi just grinned at her. Then he concentrated on traffic as he drove her home.
