Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87181 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
I took the vase of roses from his hands and breathed them in with a tiny smile on my lips. Date number two was already off to a great start. “You are more than welcome to come upstairs,” I offered.
He gave me his charming smile, and his dimples deepened as he shook his head. “No, really, it’s fine. I’ll be right here.”
“Okay. Then I’ll be right back.” I headed up to my apartment and placed the flowers on my counter. I placed them back far enough so Grandma wouldn’t get too curious and knock them over. One of Grandma’s favorite activities was knocking things off my countertops.
I inhaled the flowers deeply and then snapped a photo of them to text Kai.
I slipped my phone back into my pocket and headed downstairs to meet Matthew.
“All set?” he asked.
“All set.”
“Perfect.” He walked to the curb, held his hand up, and hailed us a taxi within seconds. He opened the door for me to slide in, then hurried to the other side to hop in himself. Matthew took his gentlemanly tasks seriously. I truly couldn’t remember the last time a guy held a door open for me—outside of Kai, whenever I finished complaining in his apartment about my dating woes.
Matthew instructed the driver where to take us, then grew comfortable in his seat. “You look amazing, Holly.”
My cheeks flushed. “Thank you. You don’t look half bad yourself.”
“I had to clean up nicely since I knew you’d bring your A-game. So our reservation for the igloo is happening in about twenty minutes, and with traffic over there, we should be there with a few minutes to spare.”
“You lead. I’ll follow.”
He smiled at me and placed a hand on my forearm. He squeezed it lightly and kept eye contact. “I’m happy we’re doing this.”
“Me too. I’ve lived here for so long and never did any of the Christmas-y things.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I love the holiday, but I always seemed to be on a book deadline around the time.”
“So you’ve never seen Amaze Light Festival at Odyssey Fun World in Tinley Park?”
“Never.”
“What about the Lincoln Park Zoo lights?”
“Nope.”
Pulling back, he placed his hands in a prayer formation, and tapped them against his lips. “Please tell me you’ve seen the Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform.”
I bit my bottom lip and shook my head.
“Oh my gosh, Holly! You are missing out on all the legendary things that make Christmas! At least I know what we’re doing for our third date.”
Third date planning already?
Maybe my following Kai’s dating tips was a good thing after all. I did end up landing a second date, thanks to him.
“Tell me something I don’t know about you,” I urged Matthew, tapping him lightly against his leg. “Something that might surprise me. Just some random facts.”
“Um, good question. I’m allergic to peanut butter. I'm not too fond of roller coasters. When I was nine years old, I got sick from a ride at Six Flags and never really recovered. I love animals and volunteer at a shelter. I have a dog and a cat rescue. I like my job, but I don’t love it. I have an addiction to old-school comedies. I could watch Adam Sandler’s whole catalog and never tire of it. And you’re beautiful.” He nudged my arm. “That’s not a fact about me, but still a fact nonetheless.”
I snickered. “A little corny.”
“Sometimes, I cross into the corny territory. Your turn. Tell me things about you.”
I wiggled around in my seat and turned to face him a little more. “I’m terrified of bees, even though I’ve never been stung. I have this irrational thought that I’d be highly allergic to them. Strawberries make me itch. I think spring is the best season because things start returning to life. If I could live anywhere else, I’d live in Seattle because rain soothes me. I lose my keys regularly, and most of the time, they are right in my back pocket. I hate mean people and love squirrels.”
“Squirrels?” he asked, shocked. “I’ve never heard that one before.”
“A while back, I saw a video of a squirrel coming back to his main tree, and the owners cut it down, and he just stood there on the stump heartbroken.” I cleared my throat, feeling myself getting teary-eyed thinking about the situation. My hands fell to my chest. “And that image broke my heart because he just wanted to come home.”
“Geez. That is sad.”
“After that, I went down a spiral of cute squirrel videos. I saw this guy raise an abandoned baby squirrel. He bottle-fed it, and the squirrel now loves him more than anything in the whole world, and that’s what I love most. The fact that they feel emotions just like us. Maybe not exactly like humans, but they feel.” I didn’t know why that made me so happy and made me feel less alone in some ways. Those animals felt things like we humans had. It made the idea of a connection seem that much more important. If a squirrel could hurt like me, then maybe the world was more in sync than I’d ever thought.