Free Be Mine by Sabrina James Page B

her wallet.
    â€œKeep your money,” Will said. “It’s on me.”
    â€œThanks.”
    â€œWhy don’t you grab a corner table? I’ll be with you in a couple of minutes.”
    As Jennifer waited for Will, she looked around the pizzeria. It was warm and cozy, decorated to look like it was actually in Italy. The walls were made of brick and they were strung with tiny white lights. The tables were covered with red and white checked tablecloths and on top of them were melted candles stuck in wine bottles. There was an Italian flag hanging on one wall and posters of Italian soccer players on another.
    Jennifer watched as Will twirled a ball of pizza dough around one hand. It kept getting bigger and bigger until it was a flat circle. Then he placed it back down on the marble countertop, tossed some flour on it, added a swirl of tomato sauce with a big spoon, and sprinkled a handful of mozzarella. Then he slid a wooden spatula underneath the pizza and popped it into one of the four ovens behind him.
    Jennifer left her seat and walked over to the counter. “I didn’t know you made the pizzas.”
    â€œI’m a guy of many talents.” Will opened one of the other ovens and pulled out Jennifer’s slice. “Here you go. Piping hot.”
    Jennifer blew onto the slice so she wouldn’t burn her mouth and then took a tiny bite. “Mmm. Good!”
    â€œWant to try making one?” Will asked.
    â€œHow hard is it?” Jennifer asked, taking another bite of her slice.
    â€œYou won’t know until you try.”
    Jennifer studied Will. “If you can do it, I can do it!”
    Will laughed. “We’ll see! It’s not as easy as it looks.”
    Jennifer stepped behind the counter next to Will and tried to imitate what she had seen him do earlier. But she was unable to twirl the ball of dough covering her hand. It was so heavy! It kept falling off her hand with a thud, scattering flour everywhere.
    â€œCan’t I just flatten it out with a rolling pin?” she asked.
    â€œYou’re making a pizza pie, not an apple pie!” Will stood behind Jennifer, holding her arm straight. “You’re concentrating too much. Just go with the flow. Little twirls. As you keep doing it, the dough will start to grow and stretch.” Will began turning Jennifer’s arm. “Pretend you’re twirling a hula hoop around your wrist.”
    Jennifer tried again and this time the ball of dough began to grow. “I’m doing it!” she exclaimed.
    â€œKeep twirling,” Will encouraged.
    Jennifer tried to focus on her twirling, but it was hard with Will standing so close to her. The space behind the counter was small and she could sense him right behind her.
    â€œVery good,” he whispered in her ear.
    Chills traveled down Jennifer’s spine and she shivered. For a second, she wondered if Will was going to touch her, but he didn’t. Instead, he stepped away to wait on a customer and left her to twirling her dough. When she had a circle as big as the one Will had made, she added the other ingredients. As she did, she watched Will talking to the girl on the other side of the counter. She was the same age as them, but Jennifer didn’t recognize her from school. It was obvious that she was interested in more than just a slice of pizza. She kept batting her eyes at Will and asking him all sorts of meaningless questions. She was flirting with Will and he was flirting right back!
    When she paid, the girl wrote her phone number down on a piece of paper and slipped it into the front pocket of Will’s shirt. “Call me,” she said.
    Will gave her a smile. “I love making home deliveries.”
    Will watched the girl leave the pizzeria before turning back to Jennifer. “How’s your pie coming?”
    Jennifer stared at Will in disbelief. She couldn’t believe what she had just seen!
    â€œWhat was that?” she