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It takes effort to summon my voice. “You realize your father is gonna kill me, right?”
She huffs out a laugh. “No, he won’t.”
“The hell he will. You’re too damn young for me.” There’s a pause before I force out the truth. “You’re practically a baby.”
“Hardly. I’m a grown woman.”
“Who is seven years younger,” I say with a grunt.
She pulls away enough to search my eyes. “How about we take this one step at a time.” There’s a pause. “Maybe we can have dinner and see what happens.”
I allow her words to roll around like marbles in my head before reluctantly giving in. “All right.”
If I’m lucky, our date will turn out to be a total disaster and we’ll have nothing in common. Just because we have chemistry in the sack doesn’t mean a damn thing. It’s entirely possible I jacked myself up for nothing.
Relief floods through me as I latch onto those thoughts with the desperation of a drowning man. Just as my muscles loosen, she flashes a smile. That’s all it takes for my heart to constrict before twisting painfully in my chest.
Poppy
The knock on the apartment door sends my belly into freefall. I flatten my palm against my lower abdomen, hoping that will settle everything that riots dangerously within. It’s as if there’s a horde of angry butterflies attempting to wing their way to life inside me.
It’s ridiculous how nervous I am about this date. It’s not like I haven’t been on dozens of them throughout the years. But for some reason, going out with Mason feels like a big deal. I have the sneaking suspicion it’s because I like him.
Really like him.
Once I reach the tiny entryway, I inhale one last deep breath before grabbing the handle and yanking the door open. I find Mason standing on the other side of the threshold in the hallway. He’s wearing a navy polo and dark wash jeans. Normally, in class, he wears T-shirts. Once, at the garage, I found him bare chested. I’d be lying through my teeth if I didn’t admit that I prefer him without a shirt, but he looks seriously handsome dressed like this.
“Hi.” That’s all it takes for the butterflies to explode for a second time.
“Hey.” Heat sparks in his eyes as his gaze skims down the length of me. “You look beautiful.”
My hand smooths over the sundress that ends around mid-thigh. I can’t help but remember the night he found me stranded along the side of the road. It was the first time he kissed me. My tongue darts out to moisten my lips, almost as if I can still taste him there.
“Thank you.” What’s funny is that this man has already seen me naked—twice—and yet, I feel nervous and shy around him. Going out on a date shouldn’t be a big deal.
But it is.
Our gazes cling for a long moment. It wouldn’t take much for me to drown in his dark depths. They remind me of still waters. It’s only when you’re wading through them that you realize how deep they run.
He clears his throat. “You ready to go?”
“Yup. Let me grab my purse.” I swipe it off the small table in the entryway.
Mason steps aside as I walk into the hallway, locking the apartment door behind me. Tension crackles in the air as we head to the stairwell and then the lobby. His truck is parked out front of the building. I’m intensely aware of his bigger body beside me as he holds open the door to the pickup and I slide inside. A handful of seconds later, we’re pulling out of the lot.
He flicks a glance in my direction. “I hope you don’t mind if we go to O’Donnell’s.”
I shake my head. It’s an Irish pub located on the outskirts of town. They have the best burgers and homemade chips. Not to mention corned beef and cabbage eggrolls.
Yum.
I slant a look in his direction to gage his reaction. “Didn’t want to take me someplace close to campus, huh?”
Guilt flickers across his expression. “I figured the fewer people who saw us out together—at least for the time being—the better off we’d be. Are you still good with that?”
Reaching out, I lay my hand over his larger one before giving it a squeeze. “I’m just teasing. I understand why we’re not sticking close to Claremont, and it’s fine.”
His muscles loosen. “I still don’t think your father will like this.”
