Read Online Starting Over by Barbie Bohrman - Free Book Online Page A

was wondering if you’d like to grab a cup with me.”
    I would have never guessed that that was what he was going to say. I have a million thoughts running through my brain, but first and foremost is that agreeing to meeting him, even for a simple coffee, can’t be ethical with him being Josie’s teacher. I’m taken aback, which must have shown on my face, because he then smiles meekly and adds, “Just as friends, to discuss the theory of mangoes, of course.”
    I relax a bit and surprise myself by saying yes. Albeit with my heart hammering like a hummingbird’s wings, and I’m almost positive that my upper lip is sweaty from nerves. I surprise myself even further by exchanging cell phone numbers . . . just in case. Just in case of what, I’m not sure, but he asked, and I would feel like a fool if I didn’t when he so readily gave me his.
    “Okay, so, I’ll drop off these groceries at home and meet you there in about a half hour?” I ask him.
    Cameron nods. “And you’ll text me if you’re running late so I won’t be that guy that gets stood up at the coffee shop, right?”
    Laughing, I say, “Of course.”
    “Okay, I’ll see you soon then.”
    He backs up his cart and turns around, leaving for good this time and leaving me wondering if I agreed to a date with my daughter’s teacher or if it’s really just a friendly cup of coffee.

    Now I’ve been out of the game for quite some time, but if memory serves, this right here feels and looks like a date.
    I know it’s only a cup of coffee, but there’s something about the way he looks at me; thoughtful and friendly, yes, but more than that. Cameron’s eyes, as black as they may be, convey warmth to his every word, as if they were carefully constructed in his mind before leaving his full lips. And his lips . . . the way he licks them every so often like a nervous tic, is beyond adorable. So needless to say, I find myself in deep trouble. Because I can’t deny that I am totally attracted to him.
    “You’re awfully quiet,” Cameron says, pulling me from my straying thoughts.
    I didn’t even notice I had been off to la-la land.
    “I’m sorry, sometimes I can be a little flighty I guess.”
    Why did I say that? I’m not flighty, I’m just preoccupied. Great, now he’ll think that I’m a space cadet.
    “I don’t think you’re flighty at all. In fact, you come across as anything but.”
    Now my curiosity has gotten the better of me. But I don’t know him well enough to ask him to elaborate. I decide to try and level the playing field instead. “So, what made you decide to become a science teacher?”
    He takes a drink of his coffee and puts the mug on the small table between us. He rubs the back of his neck while his face breaks into a shy smile. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of a nerd.”
    “I don’t think you’re a nerd at all. In fact, you come across as anything but,” I say with a giggle and wink playfully at him.
    Oh my God, Vanessa, get ahold of yourself and do not wink at him again.
    “Touché,” he says with a laugh. “Honestly, I always had a thing for scientific facts and random trivia ever since I was a little kid.”
    “Like what, for instance?”
    He hesitates, as if telling me will divulge his inner nerd more than he thinks he already has. If possible, it makes him even more charming.
    “For instance, did you know that a meteoroid can travel through the solar system at a speed of around twenty-six miles per second? Or that it’s because of the sun and moon’s gravity that we have high and low tides? Or that the sun is over three hundred thousand times larger than earth?”
    “That’s pretty impressive. I can see the appeal of that kind of stuff to a wide-eyed little boy.” I take a sip of my coffee and then say, “I was never one for logical; in fact, I was the polar opposite when I was a little girl.”
    “I bet you were beautiful in whatever you did.”
    He clears his throat before saying, “I’m