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“No, actually. I’m going to stay for a while.”

“A while?” Melinda asked, ears perking up.

“We’re going to rent this place out, so I need to get it ready for that, and the other house needs some repair work.”

“You’re going to stay in town for all that?” she asked hopefully.

“I don’t know how long it will take, exactly, but yes. I really like New Orleans. It’s beautiful and has a lot to offer.”

“It does, yes,” she agreed, smiling wide.

“Including a beautiful tour guide.”

Melinda blushed and said, “Jill?”

Kyle laughed and replied, “She’s pretty, too, but I meant you.”

Melinda didn’t say anything this time, but she leaned over the table and waited.

“Mel, I… I know I don’t live here and that I don’t know exactly when I’ll leave, but Idoknow that I’ll be here for a while now. It’ll take me time to get this all straightened out, and there’s something keeping me here until it’s done. Jolie is flying home because she has a life back there and a job that requires her to be in the office. I don’t. And you told me the only reason you said no was that I was leaving, so I guess I’m putting that to the test. If I asked you out again, now that I’m staying for however long, would you still say no?” Kyle took a deep breath. “Would you give me a chance? Us a chance to see if this could be something? If not, I’d still understand. I’m sorry that I kind of ran off on you. I just didn’t think I could sit across from you at a restaurant and not think about the fact that you’d just said no.”

Melinda saw Bridgette, who was walking over to the table with her friend in tow, and she worried that they were about to get interrupted.

“Kyle, if we do this and it doesn’t work, can we still be friends?”

“I hope so,” Kyle replied. “But, honestly, I don’t know. I guess I’m just asking for one date. If it goes well, maybe a second. If it doesn’t, then we’ll know, and we can try to be friends and go from there.”

“Bridge is about to walk over here, and we’re probably about to head back to the hotel.”

“Oh, okay,” Kyle uttered.

“But we’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Do you maybe want to do something tomorrow night? Around seven?”

“Something? Like a dinner or drinks between friends?”

Melinda smiled and replied, “I was thinking something more.”

“Really?”

“I can’t stop thinking about you, Kyle. I’ve been sulking all day. Don’t tell Bridgette that she was right. I’ll never hear the end of it. And I don’t want to get my heart broken, but I wanted to say yes to you. I knew saying no was wrong the moment I did it. I felt it in my gut that I should’ve said yes. There was like this pull to follow you down the street and tell you that I was stupid and that I’d changed my mind.”

“You should have.”

“I know,” she said, laughing a little just as Bridgette and the friend made it to the table.

“Hey, we were thinking about grabbing tacos. You in?” Bridgette asked her. “There’s a great place on the way back to the hotel.”

“Tacos, huh?” Kyle asked, overhearing.

“Yes, I’m hungry,” Melinda replied. “And can I talk to you tomorrow?” she asked Kyle.

“Oh. You’re on the phone. Sorry,” Bridgette replied quickly. “Wait… Are you on with you-know-who?”

“Bridgette, shut up. Go away,” Melinda said, laughing.