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just been in a train wreck.
    “I’m perfectly fine. You do know I go to the city every day? I get shoved all the time.”
    Instead of quieting the riot in his eyes, this news made Blake seem even more troubled. The train rumbled off behind Livia, and they were finally alone in the gloriously deserted station.
    “Did you have a nice day?” he asked, watching as if her answer was all that mattered in the world.
    “It’s better now.” Too much, Livia. She had no idea why her mouth was so free around him. The mere presence of Blake removed some sort of filter in her mind.
    He held out her cooler like a prize.
    “Thank you very much for taking care of it.” Their fingertips grazed again at the exchange. Something inside the cooler rattled around, and Livia arched an eyebrow.
    “You could open it,” he offered.
    He looked in her eyes as she unzipped the cooler. It was chock full of debris. She felt her heart stop beating in despair. She lifted out the pile of leaves and rocks. Blake looked so expectant.
    He thinks I understand what this means . Livia let the silence grow, having no idea what would bring the magic between them back. Maybe he is what they say. Just thinking that awful thought put a puncture right in the center of Livia’s hope.
    In the next moment Blake’s face fell as he saw her confusion. Embarrassment filled his eyes, and he studied the ground.
    “Let me take a good look at this.” Livia headed for the closest streetlamp.
    It isn’t just debris . She almost cried with relief. Blake had picked out the most exquisite of the fall leaves. Each one had exceptional color. Some even had recognizable shapes.
    “A cat! This one has orange in the shape of a cat,” Livia nearly shouted.
    Blake bit his lip as she discovered the sweet secret in every leaf. The stones came next—some had unusual colors and some had a miraculous little stream of crystals dividing them in half. The last two were plain gray.
    Livia looked puzzled and whispered, “I have no idea why these are special.”
    Blake dared to touch her face. “They’re the exact color of your eyes.”
    Livia covered his hand with her own and moved it down to her mouth. She put a sweet kiss in the center of his palm. His beautiful hands went through all this trouble for me.
    Blake’s eyes flared with desire, making them look greener.
    Livia had an unbidden thought of the last time Chris had touched her. He’d twirled her in front of his buddies. “ Hey, her face ain’t much, but her ass is slammin ’.” Chris had pled “joking around” when she confronted him later, but the whole scene left Livia feeling gloomy.
    “It’s getting late, Livia. I think I should walk you back to your car,” Blake said.
    He made no motion to remove his hand. It felt soft and cool on her mouth. Livia felt a rush of panic as she let go of his hand to check her vibrating cell phone.
    “I put it on vibrate so I wouldn’t have to talk to Chris.”
    She’d missed five calls from her father. Livia groaned as the phone lit up again in her hand.
    “Dad’s calling.” She pressed the send button. “I’m fine, Dad,” she said by way of greeting. “I know, I’m sorry. I ran into a friend at the train station and we got to talking. I’m getting into my car right now.” She sent Blake a panicked glance.
    He pulled her by the hand in the direction of her car and did the perfect impression of a dinging open-car-door noise. Livia smiled over her father’s worried, angry ranting. She’d been with Blake for over an hour. It felt like minutes.
    Blake took her keys and opened her car door again. Livia promised her father she’d see him soon and disconnected their call. She couldn’t help but notice how brisk the night had gotten. Concern must have shown on her face.
    As if reading her mind, Blake made a quiet plea. “Please don’t think of me that way. Let me be the guy at the train station.”
    “You’re not the guy at the train station. You’re my