In her mind she told herself to be casual, to play it cool and follow his lead. In practice she barely had a grip on her emotions. In contrast, he was nothing if not confident and the tiniest bit guarded. Normally she could easily read people but he was a bit of a mystery. Swapping business cards like any two colleagues who just met, she wondered if they would ever talk again or if they would find their way to each other tonight. What she did know, was that there was nothing ordinary about the exchange between them.

He was struggling to read the expression on her face. Surprise was obvious, but beyond that was many less obvious things. Did he go too far? He did not mean to offend her, and yet asking her was not at all an accident. His question was not a reflex, he did not slip without thinking. Asking her was a calculated risk. He wanted to see how she would react, to see if he had read her right and there was interest. Without pushing her, he needed to know.

He knew deep down, no matter how hard he tried to deny it, thinking about her haunted him in ways he never expected. She drilled into his brain, his emotions, and he had yet to find a reason to dismiss her. Moving was going to be good for him, it had to be, and perhaps the distance would break the connection between them. Things would certainly be easier if his feelings for her were not so confusing, so persistent, and so untamed.