Friends of friends, gathered by pure happenstance. She observed him as he arrived, surreptitiously watching as he joined a small knot of people across the restaurant. He greeted them, then cast his eyes round the bar area. Quickly, she looked away but thought she felt his gaze land. A peripheral glance confirmed it, bringing a slight reddening to her cheeks. He was unknown to her, though she recognised some of his group as colleagues of the sister standing beside her. His scrutiny moved on, and she resumed a breath that she hadn’t been aware of holding. A touch on her shoulder dragged her back to the conversation from which she had become momentarily distracted. She shrugged, feigning an inability to hear over the clamour of the crowd. Unable to resist, she looked back in his direction to find him openly staring. Their gazes locked, and she found herself once again unable to either breathe or look away.

unplanned encounter

spiked with gentle frissons of

anticipation