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“It’s where him and his wife had their honeymoon,” I say wistfully, and Javier’s eyebrow shoots up.

“You’re a secret hopeless romantic, aren’t you, Mere?”

I roll my eyes. “I wouldn’t say that. I just think it’s sweet he found someone.”

“Which means you still believe in love. What’s that like?”

Javier’s boyfriend broke up with him a couple of weeks ago, and he’s been acting a little weird ever since.

“Istill believe in love,” Dina pipes up.

Javier glares at her. “You would, you’ve got a new boyfriend.”

I gasp, putting down my wine glass. “You’ve got a new boyfriend?”

She blushes, and I know Javier is telling the truth.

“Dina, spill!”

Dina turns a truly alarming shade of red. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Sure looks like your boyfriend, I saw you at lunch with him.” Javier nudges her shoulder with his.

“I like him a lot, but I don’t know if it’s going anywhere.”

I smile, happy for her but also a little bitter.

It never works out for me because I compare every man to the first man I fell in love with. The only man I’ve ever loved.

I don’t know how not to.

Days go by quickly, and before I know it, there’s all kinds of changes going on, including some construction to build onto the mechanic bay.

When I walk in on a Wednesday morning after Dean announced his departure, Dina and Javier are sitting at her desk, staring out the window at a man in a suit talking on the phone.

I only glance at the man, uninterested, but then I raise an eyebrow as Dina nearly drools.

“What are the two of you staring at?”

Dina sighs like a schoolgirl. “The new boss. He’s so hot, Meredith, you won’t believe it.”

I snort. “He’s just a man. How hot can he be?”

She grabs my face and forces me to look out the window.

He does cut a good figure in his tailored suit–broad chest, trim waist, thick thighs.

“Sure, he’s a traditionally handsome guy...”

When he turns around to walk inside, I can’t help but be drawn to the hint of his chest that peeks out from the shirt.

I barely have time to notice he is wearing dark sunglasses, so I can’t see his eyes, and notice his profile is tight, his jaw square, brow strong when he walks inside and the bell above the door rings.

“Hello, team.” He whips off his sunglasses with a big grin on his face.

The most familiar eyes in the world look around the room. Hazel–almost an amber brown with green flecks.

The eyes I’d fallen in love with at sixteen. The eyes I was never able to forget.