“Wow.” Garrett’s dark brows arched in surprise as he swallowed. “That’s impressive.”
It was also nice to hear a man acknowledge it. “Most guys I date think it’s nerdy or boring.” As if realizing what she’d just said, Avery rushed to correct herself. “Not that we’re dating. Of course, we’re not dating. We just met. I didn’t mean to imply that we’re—”
“I know.” He gave her the kind of lazy smile that made her body tingle and her mind think of unspeakable things.
“Sorry. I’m usually pretty quiet. Until I get nervous, and then I tend to ramble.”
“I noticed.”
“Sorry.” She repeated herself then cringed.
“Never apologize for being who you are, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart?
Avery’s heart did some sort of fluttering thing. No man had ever called her that. Not even her dad. He’d always called her Avey Baby. But never sweetheart.
“So, where are you from?” he continued with the routine getting-to-know-you line of questioning.
“I grew up in a small town in North Carolina.”
“Really?” This seemed to interest Garrett. “Where?”
“Nowhere you’ve ever heard of.” Avery snorted. “Trust me.”
“Try me.”
“Okay.” She sat her water bottle down. “I grew up in Lillington. It’s—”
“About forty minutes north of Fayetteville, in Harnett County. There’s a trail near there. I can’t remember the name, but it’s in Raven Rock State Park.”
Holy shit.
Avery felt her jaw drop. “You’re talking about the Loop Trail.”
Garrett snapped his fingers. “That’s it! It takes you to the Overlook on the—”
“Cape Fear River,” Avery finished for him. “My sister and I used to go there all the time when we were younger.” They still did whenever they got the chance. “But…Lillington’s a tiny blip on the map. Last I checked, the population was only up to something like thirty-five hundred people. How on earth do you know where that is?”
Grinning, Garrett dropped a massive bomb. One with the potential to change everything. “I live two and a half hours west of there. In Charlotte.”
Avery’s jaw dropped for the second time, her disbelieving gaze locking with his. “You’re joking, right?”
He has to be joking.
“Nope.” Garrett shook his head. “The company I work for is based out of Charlotte. I’ve lived there going on five years, now.”
“Youreallylive in Charlotte? Charlotte, North Carolina?” Avery couldn’t wrap her mind around that fact.
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “Why? You got something against the Queen City?”
“Only the traffic,” she scoffed. Then she dropped a bomb of her own. “Garrett, I’ve lived in Charlotte for the past seven years.”
“You’re shitting me.” He sat up a little straighter. “Seriously?”
“I swear.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Humor and something else she couldn’t quite place shone from his eyes. “Okay, so I know you said you work from home. Do you live downtown, or…”