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“Me? Never.” She smirks and walks away.
Yeah, right. I take a last look in the mirror. “Lacey girl, this will have to do. Hope he likes what he sees.” I walk out to the living room and hold back, catching the end of their conversation.
“She’s my sister. Don’t hurt her. You won’t only be hurting her this time; there’s a little boy who’s growing attached to you and your son. I love them both with everything I have.”
“It’s not my intention to hurt them. I won’t. I care too much to let that happen again. Are we good?”
“We’ll see. Lacey, your non-dinner date is here.”
Oh, Shay. I walk into the room, intending to give Shay the side eye. It’s forgotten when I see how nice my non-date looks. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he says, looking me up and down with a slight lift of his lips. “Ready to go?”
“Yes. Bye, Shay.”
“You kids have fun. Have her home by nine, Mr. Jessup. And for God’s sake, don’t do a thing I would do.”
I glare at her as he opens the door. She has a broad smile on her face. Shay. He holds the door for me, and his cologne smells heavenly as I brush past him. Makes me want to lean into him and press my nose against his neck.
“I’m sorry for the interrogation,” I say as we make our way down the walk.
“Shay? That was tame for her.” He brushes some of my hair behind my shoulder. “I didn’t say it inside but...you look amazing.” His knuckles brush against me, and coupled with the way his eyes roam over my face, the touch makes me want to melt.
“Thank you.” I duck my head and get in his truck. I’m suddenly feeling shy, sitting beside him. I notice he does look at me with a reassuring smile, putting me at ease.
A few minutes of small talk later, we pull up in front of the restaurant. Right away I can tell it’s fancier than anywhere I’ve been, and it’s going to be uber expensive. I bite my lip and quickly release it when I remember I’m wearing lipstick. He’s going all out tonight. For me. As flattering as that is, it’s giving me an extra dose of nervousness, like walking in there will require me to act more cultured than I am.
“This is pretty fancy for friends going to dinner.”
“It’s our first date; I want to do it right.”
“We’re calling it a date now?”
“I am. The way you look tonight...It can’t be called anything less.”
I bite the side of my cheek to keep a smile from spreading across my face. The valet comes to the car, and he hands him the keys. He places his hand on the small of my back, giving me all sorts of feels when coupled with his sweet words.
Before the restaurant doors open for us he says, “You’re more than beautiful. You’re my Lacey.”
I almost stumble, but recover quickly at the endearment and the blush-worthy compliment and stupidly mumble, “Okay, thank you.”
Oh, boy. This is going to be some night if I let my growing emotions override my cautiously sensible intentions of keeping this as just dinner between friends. As much as I love her, in this minute, I hate Shay. For possibly being right. How could I ever think this could be a simple get-together?
