“Are you doing okay? Really?” she asked. “Like I said before…I have a hard time believing men if they have no complaints.”

He met her gaze. “Honestly? I’m tired. My appetite is weird, and certain smells bother me.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Can I be honest and say I’m dreading going bald? I know I’m a guy and I shouldn’t care, but I don’t think it’s gonna be a good look for me.”

He lowered his hand and looked away, and in that second he seemed so vulnerable and unsure, Lauren would have done just about anything to make it better. “I don’t think you need to worry,” she said quietly.

“What?” His eyes were back on her.

“I said I don’t think you need to worry.”

“What do you mean?” He lifted an eyebrow, teasing her.

She narrowed her eyes. “You know exactly what I’m saying.”

“You think I’m hot?”

“I think you know how attractive you are.”

Andrew’s face turned serious. “Do you know how attractive you are?”

She felt her face warm. “I…”

“Because you are,” he interrupted. “You’re beautiful.”

Her limbs suddenly felt weak, and she wrapped her fingers around the edge of her seat for balance.

He continued, either not noticing or not concerned that he’d unnerved her. “I’ve thought about you a lot since we first met. And I don’t mean at the cancer center.” They both glanced in the direction of the self-serve coffee area.

“Me, too,” she admitted against her better judgment. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one who had replayed that morning in her head.

“Would you go out with me? For coffee, or a drink? Dinner, even?”

“We’re having coffee right now.”

“We’re studying. This doesn’t count.”

“I haven’t looked at my books once since you showed up.”

“It wasn’t agreed upon that this was a date prior to the event,” he argued. “Therefore, it doesn’t count.”

“Not mediocre anymore,” she said under her breath.

He draped one arm across the chair to his left and grinned, a triumphant glint in his eyes. “Is that a yes?”

“No.”

He frowned. “You’re saying no?”

“No.”

His head cocked sideways. “What, then?”

Lauren wrapped her fingers around her coffee mug and looked down at her hands for a moment. What did he want from her? What could his end goal possibly be? She raised her eyes back to his incredibly handsome face.

“Why?”

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

“Why what?” Andrew stared at her. “Why do I want to go out with you?”

She nodded.