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When Caden said he’d call or text her tonight, she didn’t expect him to ask her out on a date. He’d invited her to his friends’ wedding reception, but still. People often said things they didn’t mean or took it back or changed their minds. It wasn’t that she thought Caden would do that to her, but it would almost be easier if he did. Now that he had actually messaged her, she was kind of scared. Not of Caden, but of liking him even more, and having to tell him about her secret. She had no idea how he’d react or what he would say, but she couldn’t bear the thought of one more person in her life telling her it was all just in her head. Or worse, what if he blamed her for what happened to Blake, thinking she’d somehow caused it?
Caden: Yeah. With me :)
Hallie stared at the phone in her hand. Was she ready to have dinner with Caden? She wanted to, of course she did. And dinner wasn’t a marriage proposal. But her life was so much more complicated than she ever let on. Wasn’t it just the other night she vowed not to let him in, not to trust him?
Caden: Unless you don’t want to…
She sighed, knowing there was a high chance she was going to regret her next actions. But she couldn’t let him think that, when she’d spent all evening practically waiting to hear from him. She typed back the first thing that came to mind and hoped it came off as nonchalant as it sounded in her head.
Hallie: You mentioned something about a pizzeria the other day.
Caden: We can do better than that. I’ll pick you up at the store at 6:15. Does that give you enough time to close?
Better than that? Better than what? Hallie’s excitement ratcheted as she typed out her reply.
Hallie: Yes.
Caden: Then it’s a date.
A date. Hallie’s heart was about to beat right out of her chest. She liked Caden a lot, and she enjoyed spending time with him. But after their rocky start and how things hadn’t worked out in her last relationship, not to mention how insane her life was right now, she worried things with Caden wouldn’t end well. She hated being such a pessimist, but in her reality, she was being a realist.
Whatever this was between them was going to come to a crashing halt as soon as the FBI went through her computer and uncovered her recent search history. But whether she was a hopeless romantic or a desperate fool crushing on a devastatingly handsome guy, Hallie couldn’t bring herself to stay away from the man who’d made her feel more alive in the last week than she had in years.
She’d just have to take it one day at a time. After all, she had agreed to go to a wedding reception with him, and that meant something - though she wasn’t quite sure what. It wasn’t like the other couple was getting married. And then there was the little fact of him being FBI. It had crossed her mind on several occasions that he was probably using her or spying on her, but the thought never stuck - or maybe she brushed it off in the hopes that she was just being ridiculously paranoid as she had been her entire life.
Hallie had no idea if she’d ever be able to trust Caden enough to tell him the truth, or if she even wanted to tell him about her glimpses. Not that it mattered. All she had was a date. A few hours in which she would be in the presence of a man that made her smile, held her close when she cried, gazed at her with a haunted sadness and tenderness that made her chest squeeze, and told her in a hushed tone that she could trust him. She wanted to believe that last part more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. But not yet. It was too soon and he was way too damn good at bringing down all her defenses.
Hallie went to bed that night still thinking about Caden and woke up the next morning, her head swimming with images of the handsome FBI agent. Even if she never told Caden about her ability, and things ended between them like they did with every other guy, for now her smile would be a permanent fixture on her face. And it was all thanks to the FBI agent she would be having dinner with on Thursday.
Chapter 8
When Thursday finally came, Caden was excited. His long day at the bureau hadn’t deterred him from thinking about Hallie and looking forward to their date tonight. They had talked or texted every day since the night of Blake’s homecoming, and Caden enjoyed every second of getting to know her. But talking to her in person would be even better. He left the office a little before six to account for any traffic, since they’d agreed on him picking her up at 6:15. He’d already made a reservation at a nice Italian restaurant with a semi-casual dress code, so whatever Hallie had worn that day would be more than appropriate.
Caden wanted to make this as easy on her as possible. He was a fairly low maintenance kind of guy, and from what he’d learned about Hallie so far, she seemed to be pretty easy going too.
He was looking forward to seeing her again, talking to her, and learning more about her. Aside from their shared love of sweets and fancy coffee drinks, he’d so far learned they both liked comedies, Italian food with too much sauce on it, and much to his surprise, Hallie was a growing fan of true crime documentaries.
Talking and texting with her had been so easy, but Caden still sensed there was some sort of mystery to her just waiting to be revealed as soon as she was comfortable enough to relax and let go with someone. And he wanted that someone to be him.
Caden pulled up in front of The Mystic Cow a few minutes early. He debated whether to message her to let her know he was here or just go inside. Before he could decide, the door to The Mystic Cow opened and she emerged wearing dark blue jeans with small rhinestones on the seams, a deep purple fitted blouse with a plunging neckline under a black sweater open in the front, and a pair of black boots. She looked put together, comfortable, and absolutely delectable. He couldn’t help but smile.
Hallie turned and waved to him before locking the door. He stepped out of his car while she locked up and met her at the doorstep. “Hi,” he said.
She turned as she slipped the keys in her purse. “Hi. How was your day?”
Caden cocked his head and smiled. No one ever asked him that. “It was good. Thanks for asking.” He opened the passenger door for her and waited for her to get in before closing it and going around to the driver’s side. “How about you? Anything interesting or exciting happen at The Mystic Cow today?” He asked as he pulled out into traffic.
“It was actually kind of slow, but these two ladies came in and browsed for well over two hours.”
“Did they buy anything?” Caden asked.
“Not one thing. In fact, they walked around talking about how they could buy it all online for cheaper and get free shipping.”
Caden cringed. “Did you say something to them?”
“I considered it. But I didn’t want to be mean in case they actually found something they liked. Sales have been a little slow lately. I’m sure they’ll pick up, but I didn’t want to make a bad impression.”
“I get that. But if they come back…” Caden wasn’t sure how much she’d appreciate him going on the defensive for her. He didn’t want it to seem like he was telling her how to run her business, but he also didn’t care for people who went around making others feel insignificant, and wouldn’t tolerate anyone doing that to Hallie.
