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He wouldn’t know until she shared her past with him. He was curious as hell, but was confident whatever the story was, he could help her write a new story. One that included them spending a lot of time together and getting to know each other on every level possible.
Every. Level.
If kissing her had hooked him like this, he couldn’t wait to see what more would do.
“So where are we going on this mandatory double date?” Dena asked. “You already took Leah to Mountain View Pizza. Too soon to be repeating places if you want her to think you have any ounce of creativity.”
“I know where you should go!” Jacy picked up her phone again. Why was she so glued to that thing all of a sudden? “I read about a place today over in North Grove called Falls. It’s right by Chasm Falls. Supposed to be super views, innovative menu, and live entertainment even on a Wednesday night.”
She passed her phone over to Dena first while Dakota wondered whatinnovative menumeant. Generally speaking, he was a pizza and burger guy. Fancy sauces and shit he couldn’t pronounce didn’t interest him, but maybe they did interest Leah. She did come from New York. She’d probably been to lots of upscale places.
“Looks like it could be nice.” Dena handed him Jacy’s phone.
Dakota scanned the screen and scrolled down to the menu. Although he did see things that were in other languages, his gaze settled on the wordssteakandpasta. He’d be okay.
“I’ll call for a reservation later.” He handed the phone back to Jacy then looked at Dena. “Thanks for doing this.”
“No problem. I’m sure a date with a nerd will be better than my typical sock drawer rearrangement I had planned for Wednesday night.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder with a huff.
“What happened with the Ripley brothers?” he asked, not that either of those baboons were good enough for his sisters.
Jacy made a strangled noise. “After the smooth talking—which you pointed out—there wasn’t… more.”
“Classic case of two-dimensional men pretending to be three-dimensional.” Dena sighed. “Maybe this Carson will be different.”
“Carter,” Dakota corrected.
“Whatever.” Dena grabbed the wine bottle and refilled her glass. “All I know is that if his opening line isHey, baby,did it hurt when you fell from Heaven,the evening will be short, so be prepared.”
The only thing Dakota was preparing for was unraveling the mystery that was Leah Greenstead.
Chapter Ten
The drive to the restaurant was hell. Of course Dena had all the getting-to-know-you questions ready to ask Carter and Leah, making Leah hold her breath each time she fired one off. Without Dena and Dakota knowing the true history between Carter and herself, real answers couldn’t be provided. She almost told Dakota to pull his truck over to the side of the road so she could unload the story.
But that was no way to begin a date night. It wasn’t the way to end one either. She was fairly certain that after she told Dakota about Chase, it would totally kill any romantic buzz they managed to generate during dinner.
And despite her worry over what Dena was asking them and thinking of ways to evade her inquiries, a romantic buzz still vibrated through Leah as she sat beside Dakota in the front seat of his truck. Why did the console between them have to be a mile wide? She was having a hard timenotcrawling over the medley of cup holders to position herself in his lap. Being in his lap was strangely comforting. It shouldn’t have been, but she felt as if she belonged there. His thighs provided solid ground beneath her and it’d been a long time since she’d been on solid ground. Each step had always felt as if she were about to fall into a deep, dark hole with no hope of escape. That feeling was fading the longer she stayed in Maplehaven.
The longer she hung around Dakota.
“You just have to give video games a chance,” Carter said.
“She has,” Dakota said. “She sucks at them.”
Dena’s hand hit the back of Dakota’s head. “Shut up. I’m good at plenty of other things.”
“Note how she does not deny that she sucks at video games.” Dakota ducked his sister’s next slap.
“Maybe you haven’t had the right coach,” Carter said. “Someone who knows the inner workings of the games. Intimately.”
Leah had to stifle her laugh. She’d seen Carter work it with the ladies before, but for some reason, he had never seemed so clichéd in the past. She shot a quick glance to Dakota, his strong profile illuminated intermittently by the headlights of passing cars. She never felt as if he were feeding her a premeditated line. Every attempt he’d made at asking her out and flirting had appeared to come from his… well, his heart.
What was I saying about clichés?
“Hey.” Dakota’s elbow gently nudged hers on the console. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Why?”
