Just then the waitress came back. She was carrying a little strawberry shortcake. She set it down in front of Hobi. The girl sitting across from him eyeballed the cake and quirked a dark eyebrow. She glanced up at him. But Hobi missed her inquiring look. He was peering up at the waitress.
She turned and pointed at the girl he’d just taken his picture with. From across the restaurant, she yelled, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOBI!”
His eyebrows slapped his hairline. Then he smiled at the girl and bowed his head towards her. “Thank you,” he responded in a perfectly reasonable tone of voice.
The girl seated at his table suddenly asked, “Today is your birthday?”
He nodded and thanked the waitress. She turned and walked away.
“How does that loud girl know your birthday?”
He just shrugged and speared a strawberry with his fork before cramming it into his mouth. But not before he had run the strawberry through some of the whipped cream. Once again, he closed his eyes. To savor the strawberry. But also, to block out the beautiful, maddening girl seated across from him.
Some birthday.
—
Sakura stared at the handsome man across from her and sighed. She’d made an enemy of him. Why? How had she not noticed how gorgeous he was yesterday? When he’d pulled her out of the street?
She’d been terrified. The thief had punched her, and she’d fallen backwards. Her adrenaline had kicked in right before this adorable guy had grabbed her arm. She’d come up fighting. Then she’d had that absurd notion float through her head because of the sunglasses. She’d suddenly been afraid that he had hired someone or perhaps asked a friend to steal them from her. But surely, that idea was insane!
But once it had left her mouth, she had only one recourse. To stick with it. Belatedly, she realized she probably could have just laughed it off. But it was too late by the time that occurred to her.
Then this morning, he had accused her of stealing her own cup of coffee. Really! It was just maddening! She’d gotten out of there as quickly as possible. But then coming to the same diner was too much of a coincidence for her. Surely, he was following her! But if he had followed her, why did he seem to be ignoring her right now? Besides, he didn’t seem to have any trouble getting the attention of girls. At least, not if that loud girl across the restaurant was an example.
“So, you’re going to the ECOPA Stadium tonight?” She tried to find a safe topic of conversation.
Hobi glanced up at her. He’d been concentrating on cutting his pancakes. He nodded and returned his attention to his food. He needed to hurry, or he was going to be late.
Sakura didn’t know what else to say. She put her eyes on her plate and began to take tiny bites of her eggs.
Surreptitiously, Hobi studied the girl seated across from him. She was going to take all day to eat two eggs if she kept attacking them like that. A baby squirrel took bigger bites than she did. No wonder she was so slender! In the next moment, he heard himself speaking, “Would you like some strawberry shortcake?”
Startled, she glanced up at him and smiled shyly.
What was that?! What was that?!!
Hobi put his hand up over his heart. He had felt a weird shift in his chest when she’d smiled. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her face. She was stunningly beautiful. Why was he suddenly having trouble breathing?
He stared at her lips and concentrated on drawing a breath. He finally managed it, but it hurt. There was a pang on the left side of his chest. He glanced down at his pancakes. Was he having an allergic reaction to something?
“No, thank you,” came her quiet voice. “I don’t like strawberries.”
Hobi’s head snapped up. “You don’t like strawberries?” he gasped in surprise. “But they are so good!”
“Not to me,” she mumbled.
“So…you don’t like strawberry shortcake either?”
“No. It has one problem.”
Hobi grinned at her. “What’s that?”
“It has strawberries,” she muttered dryly, wondering if this guy was missing a few important parts.
