“No, I think it’s because she’s amazing, and you’ve finally found your match. Now I gotta go. Amelia is driving me nuts. Thanks for the stick, bro. Love you.”

“Kiss them for me. Love you too.”

Shea hung up his phone and sat there for a moment. Met his match? What the hell did that mean? That Elli was his soul mate or something? He hated when Grace did that, say something like that and then hang up. It drove him crazy. His phone chimed and he looked down and saw a text message from Elli.

Well, if I’m all you think about then…Yes.

A slow grin went over Shea’s face. His match? Yup, he was starting to think so too.

Chapter 5

After sending what Elli thought was a very bold text message to Shea, they talked all night. She felt bad for making him wait for her to text back, but he told her he didn’t mind; he knew she had to work. Elli never thought she could be bold enough to say the things she had said in that text message. She was pretty damn sure if they were face to face, she would turn beet red and run away. It had been so long since she had been with anyone. Justin had messed her up pretty badly, and she thought she would be alone forever. But now with Shea, maybe something could happen.

But just in case it didn’t, she was not letting her heart get involved. Shea might come to his senses and not want anything to do with her, which would completely devastate her. So in order to protect herself, she would keep her heart on lockdown. Yup, that was the plan.

Elli stood at the front of the store the next day, unloading a box of photos when the doorbell sounded. She looked up, saying her regular greeting, as Shea came in with a smile on his face.

“Hey there, beautiful.”

Elli couldn’t believe he was there, and she was beyond happy to see him. She smiled as she thanked God, she looked cute today. She was wearing one of her 50s style dresses in her favorite color, green.

“Hey,” she grinned as he leaned across the desk to kiss her softly on the lips, taking her breath away.

“What brings you by?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, had to see you. Those texts get old, you know?”

“Yeah,” she grinned as she continued unloading. It was so hard to keep her heart on lockdown when a man was saying such sweet, amazing things.

“So, have you eaten?”

“Not yet, have you?”

“Nope, that’s why I’m here, came to spring ya.” Elli smiled up at him.

“What if I had things going on?”

“I was taking my chances. Seeing you would have been enough, but eating with you would make my day.”

Yup, keeping her heart on lockdown was going to be really hard.

“I actually got most of the afternoon open. You’re lucky,” she said with a wink.

“Yes, I am. Come on, let’s go.” She bit her lip and looked up at him. He was looking delectable in some white shorts, with a black shirt and that same matching hat. His glasses were in place and his grin was unstoppable.

“Let me grab my purse. I’ll be right out,” she said as she turned to go to the back office. She grabbed her purse, and then set the alarm system as she walked out. Shea was waiting at the door, the grin still on his face as she walked towards him. It was hard to believe that he was standing there waiting for her. Sometimes it felt like a dream, but it wasn’t. She could feel the warmth of his hand, she could smell his cologne but most of all, he was looking into her eyes as he smiled just for her.

“I got subs from Jimmy Johns, figured we could have a picnic.”

Heart on lockdown?

Yeah, right.

Elli looked really pretty today. Usually he thought she was hot or beautiful, but today she was pretty. She was classy; something straight out of a 50s movie. Her hair was up in a bun with a great big white flower in it. He was starting to think she had the sickest style ever, because this girl had his eyes bugging out of his head every time he saw her. As they sat in the park, eating their subs and talking about the customers Elli had seen that morning, all he could do was think about how lucky he was to be sitting with her.

“The baby was adorable. A pain, but a beauty.”

“Is it hard getting shots of babies?”

“It can be, but I love it just the same,” she said with a grin as she wiped the corner of her mouth and then took a long swig of the water he had bought for her. Grace was actually the one to suggest the picnic. She had said that she thought it was the perfect day for one, so here he was, sitting with Elli. He had missed her last night when she was at the wedding. She could only answer him once every hour, but she did call on her way home and they had talked until she had to get back to work on the pictures. He found that she was an extremely busy lady and very self sufficient. Something that was extremely new to him. Women he usually dated were clingy, and needy, but not Elli.

“So, tell me this, how does a typical Elli Fisher day go?”

She smiled as she took another drink of water.

“Well, I wake up early and if I’m not too tired, I go for a run before letting my pup out. Then I eat some breakfast; go to work, then go to work again. I’m really boring, I swear,” she said with a laugh. “You’re a pro hockey player, nothing I do would impress you.”

He smiled as he looked down at his food.

“Elli, everything you do impresses me. You are amazing.”

She blinked a few times before looking down at her food. He needed to remember that she was shy and he couldn’t be so forward with her, but it was so hard. Plus, it wasn’t as if he could control what he was saying when she was around. Shea took his hat off, running his hand through his hair, nervously, before placing it back on his head.