The oblivious man continued to walk the circumference of the fountain. Sacrificing her fries, Julia set them down next to the seagull. “It’s your lucky day, buddy.” She dashed off, chasing after Luke. His long legs easily outpaced hers, and eventually Julia gave up. But she was not going to give up on him.

The moment might not be playing out in perfect rom-com-movie fashion, but she’d learned to appreciate the imperfections. Luke had taught her that. She decided to wait him out. On his next pass, she’d be ready.

As he circled the fountain again, Julia realized his eyes were closed. She laughed in exasperation, watching as people scurried to dodge the clueless man. Shaking her head, she shifted her position. Unlike their first meeting, which had been a complete accident, this time Julia purposely ran into him. Well, technically, Luke ran into her. She just happened to make sure she was in his way.

“Oof!” he cried, colliding into her. Luke stumbled, but because she’d been braced for impact, Julia held steady and they didn’t go down. He opened his eyes, the apology he’d begun to mumble coming to an abrupt halt. “Oh,” he breathed. His notebook clattered to the concrete, pages flapping in the Lake Michigan breeze. “It’s you.”

“It’s me.” Julia swallowed a bubble of nervous laughter as she took in his bewildered expression. “Were you expecting someone else to bump into you?”

Luke shook his head. “No, I—” He paused, staring down at her. “Did you do that on purpose?”

“Guilty as charged,” she admitted unrepentantly. “When are you going to learn to stop walking around with your eyes closed?”

“I told you, it helps me think,” he grumbled, bending to retrieve his notebook.

“What were you thinking about?” she asked, leaning against the iron railing surrounding the fountain.

He tucked his notebook into his back pocket. “A lot of things.”

“Like what?”

He rubbed a hand across his chest—over his heart. Julia smiled to herself, wondering if he was feeling the same hopeful ache she was. And then she recognized the video game character on his T-shirt and her smile widened.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who noticed. “Dude,” a man passing by said appreciatively. “Love the Zelda shirt.”

Luke muttered a distracted thanks at the guy, then cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Julia. “Like moving to Chicago.”

“You’re thinking of moving here?” Julia asked, breath hitching. She hadn’t been expecting that.

“To launch my start-up,” he explained. “Yeah.”

“How long would you be staying?” she asked carefully.

Luke dipped his chin and met her eyes. “Indefinitely.”

“Oh.” She swallowed. Suddenly hot, Julia tilted her face toward the cooling mist wafting off the spouts of water. “Strange … you happening to be here today.”

“I came here to see you,” he confessed.