Page 38 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
“Sophisticated and beautiful?” Mia was still teasing, but now her heart was racing. Lauren’s cheeks were pink, and the energy between them felt charged with something Mia was trying very hard not to define. When she started dating, she would need to dip her toes in slowly. More than likely, she needed a rebound relationship, someone casual and insignificant while she found her footing. Not Lauren. She wasnotgoing to rebound with a friend.
Lauren was staring at Mia as if she wasn’t sure whether to be embarrassed or enamored, and this conversation had gone off the rails with record speed.
“I’m forty-two,” Mia said, hoping to steer them back on track. “Now tell me how much younger you are.” Maybe they both needed to hear it.
“Thirteen years,” Lauren murmured.
“Jesus.” Mia rubbed her forehead.
“That’s not…I mean, I’ve dated older women.” Lauren’s cheeks were still pink. “I’d totally date someone who’s forty-two.”
Mia wasn’t sure what to say to that. It was on the tip of her tongue to say she’d never date a twenty-nine-year-old, but that felt insulting to Lauren somehow. And anyway, when she looked at Lauren, while she was aware of their age difference, she still saw a peer. “We’re off topic again,” she said instead. “Which app should I download?”
11
Lauren scrolled through the photo roll on Mia’s phone. “No offense, Mia, but where are your selfies?”
“I look like an idiot in selfies.” Mia gave her an aggrieved look.
“I doubt it, but I can’t confirm or deny because there are literally no selfies here,” Lauren said with a giggle.
Mia huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, and Lauren laughed harder.
“Seriously, though, you have almost no recent photos of yourself. How are we supposed to convince the single ladies in Brooklyn to date you?” The photos on Mia’s phone were mostly shots of the café, pictures of Lola, and random snaps around Brooklyn.
“Why can’t I just use this one?” Mia pointed to a shot of herself behind the counter in the café.
“Because you look like a barista, not a business owner, not to mention your logo is all over the place. You don’t want everyone on the internet to know where you work.”
Mia flinched. “You’re right. No logos.”
“Let’s take some new photos of you,” Lauren suggested.
“Right now?”
“Why not? You haven’t changed out of your work clothes yet. Go touch up your lipstick, and I’ll snap some pictures.” Lauren resisted the urge to point out that Mia looked amazing just as she was. She’d already called her beautiful once tonight. No need to make things awkward by pointing it out again.
Mia rolled her eyes, but she got up and went into the bathroom. When she returned, her lips were glossy with a dusky rose hue. “Better?”
“Yep,” Lauren said, somehow managing not to stare at those perfectly kissable lips. She was committed to her mission to get Mia on a date. If Mia met someone, that might be the easiest way for Lauren to get over her infatuation, because she didn’t tend to lust after people who were with someone else.
“Where do you want me?” Mia asked, one hand on her hip as she glanced around her living room.
“Let’s try the couch,” Lauren said, trying and failing not to hear sexual innuendo in everything they said. She picked up Mia’s phone.
“All right.” Mia sat and faced Lauren with a forced-looking smile.
Lauren took a few pictures, but they were lacking Mia’s natural charisma. They looked staged. “Hey, did I tell you about the time I sat on a chocolate truffle while I was on a first date, and it looked like…well, I’m sure you can guess.”
Mia snorted with laughter, and Lauren snapped several pictures of her. “How did you sit on a chocolate?”
“The person who sat at that table before me must have left it? I don’t know, but by the time I realized, it had melted into the back of my skirt. A total mess. My date was so embarrassed.”
Mia’s lips pursed. “If they didn’t offer you their jacket to protect your dignity, then they weren’t worth dating.”
“She didn’t, and she wasn’t, but I just got some great photos of you.” Lauren turned Mia’s phone so she could see the photos Lauren had snapped while she wasn’t paying attention. “My favorite is the last one.”
Mia took her phone, squinting at the photos. “Oh, these are kind of nice.”
