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Parker: You would.
Bennett: Careful now, Park. You wouldn’t want that husband of yours to hear that you’re anti-romance.
Theo: Hey, cool it. I think the point is to remind Levi about the game. You are going to be there, right, L? Saturday’s not a date night, is it?
Jared: The game is at nine in the morning. Of course he won’t be on a date.
I chuckled. “Idiots,” I murmured, and fired off a response that of course I was going to be there. Their conversation did spark an idea in me, though, and I looked up at Soren, who was watching me curiously, eyebrows raised.
“Everything okay?”
“Everything’s great. Hey, can I ask you a question?” When he nodded, I continued. “Would you let me take you on a date tonight?”
The smile that lit his face was all the answer I needed.
I left Soren at the theater to finish his drywall project, taking myself home to change and get ready for our date so the bathroom would be free for him to use when he returned. Sure enough, an hour after I’d settled on the couch to re-read the inspection report, Soren walked in, covered in drywall dust and mud splatters, and made a beeline for the shower.
When he emerged, the scent of his cologne filled the air—vanilla and spice, heavy and sweet at the same time. He wore a plain black t-shirt and blue jeans, but he looked like heaven and it was everything I could do not to take him right then and there.
He came to stand in the entryway to the living room, my de facto bedroom and office. “Where to?”
I tucked my phone away and stood, smoothing my white button-down shirt out, the one with the little ice cream cones all over it. “I thought I’d take you to a bookstore downtown, maybe grab some ice-cream after. If you’re not too tired of being downtown all the time, that is. What do you think?”
His face lit up with another vibrant smile. “Sounds perfect.”
A little while later, we were wandering through Paper Trail, a three-story new and used bookstore in downtown Port Grandlin. We’d started on the top floor where the new books were kept and had made our way through the main level, with bestsellers, and then found our way to the basement where used books were featured. Soren had picked several titles for himself while I was looking for just the right book to take home.
“See anything you like?” Soren appeared beside me like a friendly ghost.
I turned to him, smiling softly. “Yeah, I think I do.”
There was that blush again, his cheeks flushing with color as he looked away. “I meant books,” he murmured.
“I know.” I inhaled the scent of Soren mingled with the scent of the aging books and my heart fluttered. “Nothing’s speaking to me tonight. Let’s go get checked out and get that ice cream. What do you say?”
He nodded. “That sounds like a plan.”
Despite his protests, I paid for his small stack of books and we made our way back into the warm night. The sidewalks weren’t crowded as we walked toward the rolled ice cream place, a novelty that I hadn’t had a chance to experience since it had come to Port Grandlin a few months prior.
“Hey,” Soren said after a moment.
I glanced over at him. The way the dusky light fell on his tanned complexion and dark hair made my breath catch in my chest. It took me a second to regain my composure. “Yeah?”
“Where do you see yourself in five years?”
I frowned and bit my bottom lip briefly. “Five years? I don’t know. Still doing what I’m doing, I guess. Why?”
“You don’t think you’ll retire with your inheritance? Travel the world?”
I shook my head. “Definitely not. I mean, I probably could. It’s a lot of money, and if I manage it right, I could probably do a lot of things without having to work again. But no. I like my job. I like Port Grandlin and my friends and, weirdly enough, being near my family. So I’ll probably be doing the same thing I’m doing now.”
“Do you hope to be in a relationship? Married again? Anything like that?”
I was silent for a long time, long enough that by the time I’d formulated an answer, we had arrived at the ice cream shop. “I’m open to it,” I said finally. “It’s not a need, but more and more these days, it’s becoming a want.” I hoped he picked up on what I was saying. “How about you?”
Before he could respond, it was our turn to place our orders, and by the time we’d made our way back to the sidewalk with cups of rolled ice cream, I figured he’d forgotten entirely.
“Me too,” he said after a bite.
