48 First Dates (Seeking Romance #1)

The Prince of Coworkers

33

He makes me grin, but

three dates in, realization

hits—all is laughter.

E ven though I knew breaking things off with Sebastian was the right thing to do, my mood plummeted. This time, I let myself cry and explore the feelings rather than putting on a smile and stuffing it all down. I wanted to wade through the feelings to get to the other side rather than reach under my bed for a liquid solution.

One afternoon, the tears threatened to spill over as I worked in the visitor’s center. My coworker, Cody, who was always happy as a lizard on a sunny rock, noticed my mood. He asked, “You okay, Monroe?”

“Yep.”

“You sure? ‘Cause all day you’ve sounded like a banjo that nobody’s picking.”

I started to nod yes but instead shook my head from side to side.

He pulled me into a hug and patted my back. “Tell the Cody Bear all about it.”

I laughed, keeping the tears firmly locked behind my eyelids as I pulled out of his arms. “Cody Bear?”

“Everybody at home calls me Cody Bear because I’m squishy and have lots of stuffing.” He patted his stomach, which didn’t have that much padding.

“I think it’s your fuzzy brown hair and warm teddy brown eyes.”

He barked out a laugh. “Might be. But we’re not talking about me—what’s got a bee in your bonnet?”

“It’s no big deal. I’ve had a string of bad luck with first dates. Plus, a few relationships that ended up going nowhere, one of which I broke up with recently. I just—”

“You know what your problem is, Monroe?”

“No, but I’m guessing you do.” I grinned.

“Of course I do. I know you’re sweeter than cherry pie. You just need a tall glass of iced milk to go with it.”

The corners of my mouth turned up. “I don’t have any idea what you just said!”

“Hmm, how do I say it in Southern that a panhandler will understand?” His eyes sparkled as he smirked at me.

I gently shoved him back. “Plain English will work, Walsh.”

“Okay—you have been dating the wrong guys. And I intend to rectify that for you.”

“Oh, you do, do you? You got somebody in mind?”

“Sure do. ME.” His smile grew as wide as an open barn door.

I laughed at his bravado.

His face fell. “Not cool, Monroe. You don’t laugh at a guy who just asked you out. It hurts their feelings,” he said as he pretended to stab his heart with his hand.

“I’m sorry, Cody. But we can’t go out—all work and no play for me.”

“C’mon, Adelaide. Let me turn that frown upside down over dinner tonight.”

He gave me the sad puppy dog eyes. This time I found my head moving up and down.

How could I say no to the human teddy bear?

We ate dinner together that night, and I have never laughed so much. By the time I got home, my mood definitely turned around. We planned to meet up on our day off. The plan was to hike to Andrew’s Bald, take in the blooming azaleas, and have a picnic lunch before heading back.

The next morning, we met at the trailhead and started down the path. The hike to the bald was mostly downhill, so while we had to keep an eye on our feet, we weren’t out of breath.

We came to a set of stairs, and Cody turned, giving me a serious look. “I don’t trust stairs. They’re always up to something.”

I laughed as I stepped down the first step.

“What kind of egg does an evil chicken lay?” Cody asked.

“No idea.” Mud splashed on my ankle as I stepped in a puddle at the bottom of the steps.

“A deviled egg,” Cody answered.

I snort-laughed. “That’s the worst joke I’ve ever heard.”

The surrounding birds chirped loudly despite the noise we made. “Yeah, but the birds keep egging me on.” Cody grinned before he added, “I tell dad jokes, but I have no kids. Basically, I’m a faux pa .”

“Cody, that’s even worse!” I gently pushed him, but he didn’t budge off the trail.

A group of hikers passed us. One of them had music playing out loud on their phone. I rolled my eyes after they passed.

But Cody took it as an opportunity instead. “Do you like music, Adelaide?”

I nodded.

“Are you aware of what happens when you play country music backward?”

“What?” I said as I pushed aside a branch from a sapling.

“You get your wife and job back.”

“That’s why I don’t listen to country music, forward or backward.” I grinned as I let the sapling go before he passed.

The branch smacked him in the chest, and he laughed. “You got me there, Ads. Have you ever wondered how a tree gets online?”

Snort. “No.”

He jumped on top of a stump at the side of the trail and delivered the punchline. “They just log on.”

“Okay, you got me.” I laughed as we continued to walk down the dirt path.

“Why do M&M’s go to school?” He didn’t wait for my reaction this time. “Because they want to be Smarties.”

He kept cracking joke after joke until I couldn’t stop laughing, which made the hike a bit more difficult to do. Through the laughs, I managed to get out, “Cody... you... have to... stop! I will never make it if you don’t.”

Cody looked down at his feet as we continued our descent. “Alright, how ‘bout a question? Where in the panhandle did a pretty little thing like you grow up?”

“PleasantonFlorida. Where are you from?”

“I’m from Samhill, Alabama,” he said as he stepped onto the log rail hikers used to traverse a boggy section of the trail.

I laughed, thinking he was making another Southern joke, as I stepped up on the blackened wood beam.

He stopped and turned around with a very serious look on his face. “No, really, I’m from a place called Samhill in Alabama. Home of the pecan and peanut. And while we’re at it, that’s not a might better than Pleasanton. Yeah, I know where the locals live in the Redneck Riviera.” He grinned.

My foot faltered and almost slipped into the muck. I stopped to catch my balance and pulled my hand up to point a finger at him. “Cody, don’t you mess with Pleasanton! It really is the Pleasantville of Florabama. And you’d love it.”

“Is that an invitation, darling?” He raised an eyebrow and then turned back around before I could speak.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the bald. There were thousands of flowers in bloom—almost like stepping into a Monet painting, with splashes of color everywhere. The beauty was overwhelming, making it difficult to decide where to look first.

“Wow!” I said.

“Mmm hmm, the bald’s all gussied up at the tail end of spring.”

We spent about an hour walking around the bald, taking pictures and identifying flowers. We found two rocks to perch on as we shared a quiet lunch. When I was done eating, I took in the view. A flash of black at the other end of the bald caught my eye.

Suddenly, a mother black bear and her three cubs came sauntering into the meadow. I grabbed Cody’s arm and pointed in the animals’ direction. They sniffed the flowers and meandered around a bit. The cubs rolled and played with each other while we watched silently.

When they went back into the woods, I let out a full breath. “That was one of the most beautiful things I have seen in all my life!”

“Definitely pretty as a peach.”

I glanced over at Cody when he added nothing more. I realized he was looking at me, not at the bald or the bears. My cheeks flushed, and I hopped to my feet. “Let’s head back.”

He nodded in agreement. We said little as the hike back was much harder. We paused at our cars to drink some water before heading home.

Cody stood in front of my door and said, “Adelaide, this day has been finer than a frog’s hair split four ways. Say you’ll meet me for dinner tomorrow night.” He stared at me with hope brimming over.

“I don’t think my abs can take another date so soon, Cody Bear.” I stepped closer and put my hands on his chest. I meant the gesture to be playful, but he took it as something else. His arms encircled me, and he leaned in for the kiss. I wriggled out of the embrace, clearing my throat.

“So, I’m guessing we’re not at that stage yet.”

I looked at the line on the pavement while I racked my way for a polite way to explain why I didn’t want to kiss him.

“Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! You gotta go to dinner with me now. Meet me at Mama’s Kitchen at six tomorrow night.”

I nodded, laughing at how he handled the embarrassing situation to his advantage. I wanted to explain that my hesitancy had nothing to do with him. I just needed to figure out why I was reluctant in the first place. Cody checked so many of the boxes. “Cody...”

“No need to explain, darling. I’m gonna skedaddle. Don’t you be late tomorrow, now, you hear?”

“I hear.” A final giggle snuck out as I waved goodbye to him and got in my car to drive home.

We met the next night, and it was more of the same. I would ask a serious question, and he would answer it, turning it into a joke. I have never laughed so much in one weekend. But by the end of the evening, I realized things with Cody weren’t going anywhere.

He made me laugh. A LOT! But all we had was the laughs.

I told him I thought we would make much better friends when I offered to split the check at the end of our meal. Thankfully, Cody understood. He didn’t make it awkward for me or anyone else at work on Monday. He acted like the Prince of Coworkers.

As I fingered the new teddy bear charm on my bracelet, I reflected on my months in Tennessee. I felt a bit like Goldilocks making her way through life.

This guy makes me laugh too much.

This guy doesn’t make me laugh at all.

Like in “ Goldilocks and the Three Bears ,” I was aware of which guy made me laugh just right.

I picked up the phone to call him.

“Hey, Ads! What’s up?” Brenn answered.

I couldn’t speak. The words got stuck in my throat, and my eyes started watering.

“Adelaide, are you okay?”

“Yes.” Tell him the truth. “And no.” Tell him why. “Brenn, I...”

“What’s wrong, Ads? You can tell me anything.”

I love you.

The words almost slipped out of my mouth, but I held them in. I didn’t know how he would take my declaration of love. Our friendship was in a good place. I didn’t want to rock the boat.

No, Brenn. It turns out I can tell you ALMOST anything.

I sighed, deciding to stick with a safer subject. “I saw a mother bear and her three cubs yesterday.”