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“Tomorrow would be great,” Pierce says with a smile.

“We could go somewhere, or I can cook,” Forge adds.

Pierce gives him a confused look. “You’re going to cook?”

“Yeah, I’m going to cook. If she wants me to.”

Pierce looks at me. “He never cooks.”

“Because I don’t have time.” He then looks at me. “But if you want me to, I will make time. For you.”

I can’t help but smile. “That sounds nice, but I… I’ve never been out to dinner before. You mean at a restaurant, right? I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never been.”

“Restaurant it is,” Pierce says solidly.

“We can pick you up at six, if that works?” Forge adds.

“Six is good. The bakery closes at five, and I’ll get everything ready for her before I go.”

“Perfect. We will see you then,” Pierce says, then walks off to go speak with Trina.

“If you need anything in the meanwhile, make sure you call us immediately,” Forge says seriously, handing me his card. “If one of us doesn’t answer, call the other. And keep calling until we do.”

“I will call if I need anything.” I smile up at him. Now that he’s closer, I realize how tall he is. And I can finally see the different shades of brown in his eyes. Up close, they don’t look black. “Thank you.”

He nods, giving me a small smile.

I hear Pierce speaking quietly to Trina and catch something about security in the bakery and making sure the doors are locked.

Is this what my life is going to be like?

“Do you think that man came looking for me?” I ask.

Forge looks back at me. “Doesn’t seem like it, but if he saw you, or smelled you, he might recall you being at Theodore’s house. Better safe than sorry.”

I glance back at Trina. She’s done so much for me. The last thing I want to do is make life difficult for her. I especially don’t want to put her in danger just by being here. Maybe it’s time to consider going somewhere else…

Trina decides not to open the bakery for the rest of the day, and instead we clean up and prepare for tomorrow. We have an early night, eating beef stew for dinner and curling up on the couch to watch a movie that I can’t focus on. I can barely keep my eyes open, and Trina tells me I should go to bed. She knows I’ll be up early to help her even though I argue about staying up late. Tonight, I don’t argue. I change in my pajamas, and crawl into bed.

Trina is at the door, leaning against the frame.

“I hear you have a date with those two detective alphas tomorrow,” she says.

I smile, turning on my side to face her.

“Yeah, I do.”

“I think that’s wonderful. I told you they were good men.”

I nod. “I do have a problem though.”

“What’s that, honey?”

“They want to take me out to dinner, but I don’t have anything to wear.”

“Then I guess on our lunch break, we’re going shopping.”

I frown. “We don’t have a lunch break.”