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“Oooh! Have fun! Tell me all about it tomorrow.”
“Will do!” She waved as she walked out the door, and I turned back to my work, but I was distracted.
I hadn’t been on a date, like a real date, in a long time. I think since Jason. I was more about casual hookups. No feelings, no wasted time, and no awkwardness. But seeing Stevie look so bright-eyed and excited, it awoke a little something in me. I remembered how Jason would take me out on nice dinner dates, and sometimes we’d do things like ride bikes to the park, have picnics, and travel to cute bed and breakfasts on the gulf. Sometimes, I missed that connection with someone.
Another reason not to trust your attraction to Brad. Are you just getting desperate now?
After another hour, I left, dropping my stuff off in the locker room. I had the dreaded walk back to the entrance where I’d pass by Brad’s office. I didn’t know if he’d be there, but it was still the site of him fingering me as well as his son and my ex reappearing into life. I walked slowly, taking deep breaths, making my plans for the night when Brad dashed out of his office, looking almost wide-eyed and frenzied.
We greeted each other, and then he said, looking almost cute, “I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me tonight.”
“Tonight?” I asked, caught off guard.
But I knew what I was going to say before I said it. Instantly, my mind was made, and I could tell by the way my heart sprung into life.
“Yeah, tonight, I have a place we could go. Consider it an apology after all the stuff I’ve done at the lab. And a thank you for teaching Camilla.”
So, not a date, then?
Brad looked surprised. “Well, that would be nice, but I wasn’t sure if you’d want it to be.”
I blushed so red. Shit, I just said that out loud.
“Oh, well, okay. That would be nice.” I was hungry, anyway.
Being sensible, you are. Eating dinner. Then, you’ll go home, and everything will be over. You’ll get your apology dinner, and then that’s it.
My inner voice was totally deluded. I knew that if he touched me again, I would fall all to pieces. The smile he gave me was bright and happy, and it made him look boyish and young.
“Great. Let me just get my stuff, and I’ll drive us.” He went back to his office, and I waited there, starting to get hot.
Was this a bad idea? Was I acting crazy? I felt guilty too, as he locked his office and met me, and we passed Dan. Dan made no expression of surprise, but I worried about him telling others. Out in the parking lot, Brad walked next to me as we approached his car, and his arm brushed against my waist as he reached out to grab the door for me.
Without looking at him, I slid inside, and he shut the door behind me. I thought my heartbeat was loud enough that he could hear it, as he came in the other side. He shot me a quick smile.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yep.”
Not at all.
CHAPTER12
BRAD
I could feelmy palms sweating as I gripped the steering wheel and took us to Belucci’s, one of my favorite restaurants, and one of the nicest I could think of at the last minute. I had the deep desire to impress Cassie, especially since I’d been shocked to hear her agree to go out with me. I wanted to make a good impression. I wanted to make things up to her.
It wasn’t far away from the lab either, which worked great for us, so we didn’t have to make too long of uncomfortable conversation. I could tell Cassie was a little bit nervous too.
Is she regretting agreeing to go out with me? What were her other plans tonight? Does she want to talk about Jason?
One question after another just started free-flowing through my brain. They kept coming so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to think of any feasible answers for them. I pulled into the restaurant parking lot and put the car into park, still thinking about question after question.
“Here we are,” I said, getting out quickly so that I could open the door for her.
“Thanks.” She glanced at the restaurant. “Have you been here before?”
“Yeah, loads of times.” I shut the door behind her, and I offered her my arm.
