The Fidelity Files (Jennifer Hunter #1)(81)

"Well, in theory, it would be after four-point-five holes," I pointed out.

"And here we go again with the human calculator."

I laughed. The truth was, I'd actually never made it to the ninth-hole snack stand. None of my "golfing" partners had lasted that long.

I glanced skeptically at the shack in front of me. "So . . . hot dogs?"

"Do you have anything against hot dogs? Like a personal vendetta or something? Because I bet I could get them to whip you up a grilled cheese instead."

"No. I love hot dogs."

Jamie pantomimed a notch on an invisible scoreboard. "Jamie, one... all other dates, zero."

I giggled, wishing I could ease his mind and tell him that there were no other dates to compare himself to. This was, for all intents and purposes, my first one. Although I was pretty confident that, had there been others, the scoreboard would have looked pretty much the same.

We approached the counter and ordered two hot dogs and two Cokes. Jamie paid for the food and, in return, the cashier handed over our food and drinks.

"How's that for fast service?" Jamie asked with a wink.

I headed over to the toppings bar and started to spread ketchup on my hot dog. Jamie came up beside me and pumped mustard out of the dispenser. "I'm more of a mustard kind of guy."

I made a face. "Just ketchup for me."

Jamie took a bite out of his freshly topped hot dog. "So we could essentially buy one of those twin packs of ketchup and mustard from the supermarket and never fight over who gets what."

"Unlike those Fun Packs of cereal. My half sister and I always used to fight over those."

We sat down on a nearby bench and I placed my white paper plate on my lap.

"I have to have the Apple Jacks," Jamie said, popping the top of his Coke.

"No! I get the Apple Jacks!" I insisted before taking a bite out of my hot dog, and then with a mouthful of beef and bread mumbled, "They're my favorite!"

"Well, then, this is never going to work. We might as well end it right now."

I nodded solemnly as I chewed and swallowed. "You're probably right. It's better off this way. We won't ever have to deal with the problem of who's going to eat the Smacks. They're always the last box to go."

"You're right. Well, thank God we solved that problem. You know how many uneaten boxes of Smacks we just saved ourselves?"

"Hundreds," I replied quickly.

He nodded, and we both stared out across the darkened golf course. The overhead lamps were just bright enough to light the outline of the fairway.

Jamie glanced down at my new, blindingly white golf shoes. "Those shoes look good with your outfit."

"You think?" I asked, sticking my feet out in front of me and twisting my ankles to show off my new footwear.

"Definitely. I just don't understand why they don't rent shoes here. I mean, bowling alleys do it."

"I know. What's up with that? Because bowling alleys and golf courses certainly have a very similar clientele," I noted as I popped the last of my hot dog into my mouth.

"How am I doing on that whole distinguishing thing?" he asked.

I sipped my Coke. "Pretty good, actually. You're the first person to ever buy me shoes on a date."

"Good. So are we really going to let this whole cereal discrepancy keep us from finishing our game?" Jamie crumpled up his napkin and tossed it in a nearby trash can.

I considered. "It would be a shame to let my new shoes go to waste."



AN HOUR later we returned our rented clubs to the pro shop and headed back to the parking lot. Jamie walked close to me and I could feel his body heat through the cloth of my cardigan. I once read that everyone is made up of energy, and if you allow yourself to be in tune with that energy, you can literally feel it pulsating from anyone around you. The more receptive you are to the presence of other human beings, the farther away you can sense the energy radiating off of them.

At that moment I was fairly certain I would have been able to feel Jamie from halfway across the golf course.

As we stepped in unison, his hand brushed against mine and he immediately grabbed it and interlaced our fingers. I had felt so many hands before. I had felt so many fingers intertwine with mine. I had pretended to get chills from so many casual touches like this one. But the heat rushing from his skin onto mine was something I had never felt before, and it was rendering me nearly powerless. I carefully watched the ground in front of me, afraid that the slightest piece of unevenness in the pavement might cause me to trip.

Just as Jamie had predicted: I suddenly felt incapable of standing upright without losing my balance.

He walked me to the passenger door and paused just before opening it. "Did I tell you that you look really amazing?"

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out, so I shook my head instead.

"Well, you do."

I smiled and swallowed hard, immediately wondering if he'd kiss me. And then wondering when the last time I'd ever wondered something like that was. Certainly not recently. I always knew when the kiss would come. I'd made a living out of clocking it to the second.

But not tonight. Not with Jamie.

I could almost feel his lips less than a foot away from mine, and suddenly a sense of urgency rushed over me. It was as if I simply had to kiss him or I might implode.