Three times.
Christ, my palms were sweating. This was getting ridiculous.
I hadn’t been this nervous since I was seventeen and getting ready for prom. This was entirely different. I was just a thirty-four-year-old man picking up a woman for dinner.
But this wasn’t just any woman. This was Leigh. And this wasn’t just dinner. This was... everything I’d been trying not to want for the past two weeks.
I settled on a dark blue button-down, jeans that were nice but not too formal, boots. Casual but put-together. The kind of outfit that said I’d made an effort without trying too hard.
Then I looked at myself in the mirror and wondered what the hell I was doing.
Starting something that couldn’t last. Getting involved with my best friends’ sister. Making a decision that could blow up in my face and destroy the only family I had.
But when I thought about not showing up, about texting her some excuse, my chest tightened with something that felt like panic.
I wanted this. Wantedher. More than I’d wanted anything in a long time.
So I grabbed my keys, my wallet, and headed out the door before I could second-guess myself into staying home.
The drive to her house was torture to start with, but then the closer I got, the more the anticipation started to build. This didn’t have to be a big thing. This wasn’t a betrayal. It was two adults, pursuing something with each other that was no one else’s business.
When I finally pulled up, my rampaging thoughts had settled. Jasper’s house looked warm and welcoming in the early evening light. I sat in my truck for a moment, hands on the steering wheel, taking a breath.
This was happening. We were doing this.
Before I could get out, the front door opened. Leigh stepped out, and every thought in my head evaporated.
She wore a simple sundress in a deep green that made her eyes look impossibly bright. Her hair was down, falling in soft waves around her shoulders. She looked beautiful and nervous and perfect.
I was out of the truck before I realized I’d moved.
“Hey,” I said, meeting her halfway up the walk.
“Hey.” Her smile was shy, uncertain. “You look nice.”
“So do you.” The words felt inadequate. She looked like every dream I’d had since that first night at the bar. “You look incredible.”
Color rose in her cheeks. “Thanks.”
We stood there for a moment, suddenly awkward now that this was real. Now that we were actually doing this. The weight of what was happening settled on me. Even though we’d decided this was only for the summer, this felt like one of the most significant moments of my life. A beginning to something I’d never forget.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready.”
I walked her to my truck, opening the passenger door for her. As she slid in, the scent of her perfume hit me as she passed. That same scent that had been driving me crazy for weeks.
Focus, I told myself. Don’t mess this up.
I got in the driver’s side, started the engine, and pulled out of the driveway.
“Where are we going?” she asked after a moment.
“Riverside. There’s a restaurant there I think you’ll like. Italian place, family-owned, not too fancy but the food’s incredible.”
“Sounds perfect.” She paused. “Far enough away that we won’t run into anyone from Willowbrook.”
I glanced at her. “Yeah. That too.”
