I glance back and forth between him and the bags on the counter. “I don’t suppose there’s any way to convince you to return that.”
He shakes his head. “All purchases are final.”
My eyes move to the salesperson, but she’s pretending not to listen. So I don’t know if he’s telling the truth or lying.
I roll my lips together before sighing. “You’re kinda bossy, aren’t you?”
The man laughs, loud and throaty, and I feel it in my bones.
“I’m not sure anyone has ever called me bossy before, but I suppose you’re not incorrect.”
I purse my lips, believing him.
Pretending he’s not watching, I quickly move everything into the new backpack. Silently enjoying all the compartments and zippers and the quality of the material. It’s still a ridiculous price, but at least it’s nice.
Last, I remove the name tag from the old bag and tuck it into an interior pocket. If I’m going to be using this new grown-up bag, I’m going to adopt new grown-up habits.
I pull the final zipper closed and hoist the new backpack onto my shoulder, then turn to face the man. Or rather, face his chest.
I tip my head back. “Thank you again. It was completely unnecessary, but I still appreciate it.”
“Anytime, Valentine.”
I bite my bottom lip. “My friends call me Val.”
The corner of his mouth pulls up as he reaches out and takes the backpack off my shoulder, swinging it up onto his.
I’m so mentally off balance by this whole encounter that I don’t question him carrying my bag. And when he holds his hand out for me to shake, I place my palm against his.
“Dominic Gonzalez.” He closes his fingers around mine. “But my friends call me Dom.”
CHAPTER 2
Val
The name suits him perfectly. Strong. Memorable. And he says it like there’s no chance he’d be anyone else.
“Dom,” I say quietly, like I’m testing the taste of it.
He rubs his thumb across my knuckles. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Val.”
“You, too.”
God, his eyes are so stunning.
“What time did you say your flight starts boarding?”
I have to focus, remember where we are. “6:05.”
Dominic glances at his watch. “Fifteen minutes.” I briefly wonder if there will be time to grab a snack before I board, since the cookie I dropped was going to be my dinner. “And where’s your gate?”
“Um, twenty-four, I think. Just down the hall.”
The tip of his tongue peeks out between his lips as he licks across his incisor. “Tell me you’re going to Minneapolis.”
I swear my heart stutters in my chest.
“I’m going to Minneapolis,” I practically whisper.
“With luck like this, I’m tempted to switch our tickets and fly to Vegas. You can be my lucky charm. Win me a fortune.”
My laugh is a bit strangled. “Maybe if you hadn’t spent all your money buying me a new bag, you wouldn’t need to gamble for your retirement.”
“You wound me.” He presses a big, tattooed hand to his chest. “I might be forty-one, but I’m not quite ready to retire.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean…” I trail off as my brain starts to do the math.
Forty-one to my twenty-five. A sixteen-year age gap isn’t too much, is it?
It’s not like I have any parents to object.
Oh my god, it’s also not like I’m actually going to date him, so this is the dumbest thing to think about.
“I’m teasing you, Shorty.” He lets go of my hand, and I vaguely realize that we never actually shook. We just stood here holding hands. “Now, come on.” He places his palm between my shoulders, turning me out of the store. “We have just enough time before we board.”
I feel a bit like a lost puppy as I let this stranger guide me back into the main hallway of the terminal. But as fleeting as his attention might be, I’m soaking it in. For better or worse, I’m going to absorb every moment of it.
“Wait,” I say. “Time for what?”
He doesn’t reply. Instead, he leads me into the little bakery a few doors down, back the way I came from.
Another wave of embarrassment flushes through me. Oh my god, he’s going to replace my cookie.
“No.” I wave my hands in front of us. “I really don’t need one. I shouldn’t have gotten it in the first place.”
Self-deprecation is an instinct at this point. A product of growing up with a mother whose skinniness was a result of poor nutrition and drug use. Growing up in a society that has only just started to appreciate bodies of all sizes. Growing up feeling less than because I always had to dig to the back of the clothing rack to find something that fit.