Chapter 1

They locked eyes for half a second. But that's all it took. In that brief moment, Aria knew there was something about him. Something familiar, perhaps, but also something intriguing. She was the first one to look away and pretended to absorb herself in looking for her book. Readers Nook was her favorite place to go on a Saturday afternoon. Especially during the fall. There usually weren't many people there, so she could sit and read all day without being bothered. Even the smells and sounds made her happy; people whispering, pages turning, the smell of new books and vanilla lattes. On this particular occasion, she was looking for New Kids, a memoir that one of her favorite actors, Ian Buchanan, was currently reading. She didn't usually obsess over television stars, but Ian was different. He wasn't like one of those fickle, air-between-the-ears celebrities; he was real. As soon as he mentioned the book in an interview, she placed it on her ever-growing "To Read List". As she thumbed through the titles, she looked up to locate him. She spotted him a few aisles away in the non-fiction section.

"What is so familiar about him?" she thought to herself.

Looking down and spotting her book, she grabbed it and made her way towards the in-store coffee shop. She ordered her usual vanilla latte and went to take a seat at one of the two person tables off to the side. And then, as if it was happening in slow motion and she was seeing it happen outside of her own body, her right foot decided to overtake her left foot, her book went flying, and well obviously the book needed a best friend, so her coffee went flying right behind it. And before she knew it, her coffee was spilled, her book was 2 feet away from her on the floor, and she was sitting in quite the awkward position on the floor. But before she could think too long on how embarrassing of a situation this was, the handsome stranger appeared right beside her with a few napkins.

Flustered, and with embarrassment sinking in, she manages to mutter, "Oh, um, thanks. Thank you. Really, you don't have to—"

"No, it's fine. I don't mind helping," he said with a smile that made her heart flutter. He helped her to her feet and then began wiping up the spilled coffee.

She looked at him, this time, really looked at him. He had wavy dark brown hair, with a few locks escaping down his forehead as he bent down to wipe up her spilled coffee. His eyes were a piercing chocolate brown with flecks of honey gold. He had slight freckles sprinkled on the bridge of his nose and cheeks, but you could only see them if you were incredibly close to him. He smelled faintly of lemon, which was refreshing. And his smile? His smile looked like it came right out of a Rembrandt commercial. Simply put, he was gorgeous. And yet, she still couldn't get it out of her head the he was familiar. She couldn't place it, but there was just something about him.

Snapping her out of her thoughts he said, "How about I buy you another coffee? I was just on my way to order something when I saw your little spill."

"Um, sure, why not? Thank you so much."

"What did you order?"

With that distracting smile, she lost her train of thought for a second, but then muttered, "Vanilla latte. Hot."

"Ok, be right back," he said as he stood up, flashed her a smile, and left to get the drinks.

Aria sat down at the table, and ever the queen of over-thinking, she thought to herself, "Why in the world did I just say 'hot' like that? He probably thinks I'm totally into him and even though I kinda am...oh, who am I kidding? I kinda like history. I kinda like Nicki Minaj. I kinda like those little cake pop things from Starbucks. I don't kinda like this guy. I'm in full blown 'this-guy-is-hot-and-I-really-want-him-to-like-me' mode. But, I don't want him to think that I'm into him. How pathetic would that seem? Gosh, first I spill my coffee and then I practically tell him I think he's hot. I deserve to be forever alone."

Her phone buzzed, interrupting her self-destructive thoughts, with a text from her mom: "Can u pick up some potatoes, carrots, onions, & apples from farmer's market? We have dinner guests coming tmr. Luv, Mom."

"Sure. Will be back by dinner time," she hurriedly sent back.

Aria looked up to see the handsome stranger approaching. He set her coffee down beside her and took a seat in the chair opposite hers.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked.

"Hmmm, only if you tell me your name," she said with a slight giggle.

"Ezra. And yours?"

Suddenly realizing why he looked so familiar, with her heart racing and her palms slightly sweaty, she took a slight breath to calm herself down, and said, "Aria. Nice to meet you."