Ms. Unlucky & The List

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen: Crushing On You

 Ben was definitely crush-worthy. He’d brought me to downtown and had rushed to help an old woman cross the street upon exiting the vehicle. I smiled in awe at this gorgeous man. He was sweet and really cared about his daughter and people in general. He held the door open for me as we walked into the restaurant. It was a place he had been meaning to try but hadn’t gotten around to trying it out. I was always adventurous and was willing to try new things. We sat down and a bubbly waitress walked over to us.

“Hey, guys, how are you doing? First date,” she asked animatedly. I blushed and shook my head, my curls swishing with the movement.

“Um, no, just celebrating work,” he said, with a charming smile. I could swear I saw the girl swoon. She giggled and took our orders and walked off to get us drinks. I was glad I didn’t act like that around him.

“Man, you are a lady killer,” I mumbled.

“What makes you say that,” he asked, leaning on his knuckles, his attention completely on me, captivated as he awaited my upcoming response. I tapped my nails on the tabletop and bit my lip, his eyes looked down at the movement. I tried to withhold my blush. This man was going to cause permanent stains on my checks.

“Well, you’re good looking and when you flash that blindingly white smile at any sane female, they all swoon,” I told him. I picked up the dessert menu and tried to distract myself.

“Do I make you swoon,” he asked, a small smile pasted on his face. I lifted my eyes up to his and bit my lip.

“No,” I said, surprisingly calm.

“I think someone is in denial,” he mumbled.

“It doesn’t matter what I think, Ben. We both know why,” I told him, quietly. “I’m your temporary sitter. After today, we won’t see each other again.”

“I was considering listening to Ariel’s advice.”

“Not all of it, I’m sure,” I said, smiling up at the waitress as she set down our drinks. Her eyes were on Ben, though and she didn’t bother to acknowledge me.

“Maybe, maybe not. I haven’t spent much time with a female in a while, Nix,” he confided.

“I’m sorry about that, but I think you’re finding solace in the wrong person,” I said, meeting his gaze. I couldn’t lie that I was curious about what it would be like to have him kiss me or do other things. I cursed my shameful thoughts. I was too young and I didn’t know him and if we tried that and it didn’t work out, I would upset Ariel and I couldn’t do that.

“I’ll be your babysitter, maybe. I, um, am going out of town for a while, but I will try to make my school schedule open enough to help you when school starts.”

“You don’t have to do all that,” he told me.

“I want to. Ariel is a good kid and she doesn’t seem fond of Ashley. I’ll watch her when you want me to and I’ll even offer the weekends, so you can find a female to spend time with,” I told him, looking down at my drink as I spoke.

The food came and not much else was said between us. I wasn’t sure why I had offered that but I knew I was deeply regretting it. The waitress came back, looking more like a shy schoolgirl than I could ever pull off. She seemed to be trying to convince herself to actually say something but was having a hard time finding any courage to do so. Finally, when she had both our gazes trained on her, did she actually speak.

“I was just wondering if I could get your name and maybe your number,” she sputtered, bashfully. I wanted to roll my eyes. Even I could come up with something better than that. I looked back down at my nearly empty plate.