I open the door and face Deacon, barely taking time to notice how nicely his dark blue polo stretches over his firm pecs or how amazing his smile is. “Maybe we should call this off. Nobody will want to sit near me in a restaurant.”
“I’m one step ahead of you,” he says, all confidence. He’s clearly not nervous, probably takes women out on dates all the time. “It’s too cold for a picnic tonight, so I found a restaurantin town with a private room.” He holds up a hand like he’s anticipating my next objection. “Not that I’m saying you stink. Really, you barely smell like skunk at all anymore.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice.” I can tell because he winced when he said it. The guy’s not a great liar, which is a definite green flag.
He shrugs. “Yeah, I am. But the smell is definitely better than it was two days ago.”
“You sure you want to spend an evening with me?”
He nods. “Nothing I’d rather do. You ready to go?”
I have to admit. It’s pretty nice to meet a guy who’s interested enough to want to go out with me even when I smell like skunk. “All set.”
I step onto the porch and lock the door behind me. I turn, ready to follow him to his truck, but he’s standing close, looking down at me with heat in his eyes. “You look gorgeous tonight.”
I’m just wearing my best jeans and my favorite blouse. I didn’t even spend that much time on my hair. Although I did take the time to put on makeup and my fancy earrings. “Is this dressy enough for where we’re going?”
“You’re perfect.” He says it like he means it.
“You look pretty nice yourself,” I say.
He looks down at himself, brows high. “This old thing? I just took it from the top of the pile of clean clothes.”
I laugh, and he offers me his arm, walking me down the stairs and over to a smaller truck that’s definitely never tailgated me.
He opens my door and helps me up into the truck, and I let him, not because I couldn’t have gotten into the truck myself, but because I assume he’s trying to be romantic and this is a first date.
On the second date, I’ll tell him I’m fully capable of opening my own door. But I appreciate the gesture.
“The longer I’m here, the more I love this town,” Deacon says as he turns from my street onto Main to make the short trip downtown. “I didn’t even know this adorable neighborhood was here until tonight.”
“Is there something special about my neighborhood?” I mean, it’s okay, but I mostly picked it because the house was affordable and I wanted to be close to town. Houses close to town are hard to come by and expensive, but my house is tiny and outdated, so I got a great deal on rent.
It helps that the owner is friends with my dad. But he doesn’t offer me a discount on the rent.
Not that I’d ask.
I also wouldn’t have asked Dad for help with the cat gym. He works in construction, but he’s got a bad back and an unwillingness to stop when he’s in pain.
“It’s a great neighborhood,” he says. “All those old-growth trees, and the houses are classic cottages. It’s unusual to see. That one house on the corner has amazing trim work around the windows and doors.”
“Are you a carpenter? It’s really hard to tell.” Not for the first time, I wonder if he knows HandsyGuy. He’s too young and too beard-less to be the man himself, but in a town this small, don’t all the carpenters know each other?
Dad doesn’t know him - I asked. But Dad’s worked for the same company for decades and doesn’t pay much attention to anyone who doesn’t work for them.
He laughs. “Do you like the neighborhood? Since I’m guessing you don’t care about trim work.”
“My neighbors are nice, and everyone keeps their yards up really well. I have major garden envy of Maura’s place across the street. Did you see her mums?”
“Nope. But I did notice the scrollwork along her eaves.”
“That tracks. I think I notice gardens because I’ve killed every plant I’ve ever taken in. I’ve got some hard-to-kill plants in my sunroom that are doing okay, but I can never achieve a garden like Maura’s.”
“We all have our strengths,” he says, smiling over at me. “You know what I do for a living. How about you?”
I hesitate, and it catches me off guard. Why do I suddenly feel guilty that I’m about to give Deacon information I’ve denied Handsyguy37? I shake off the feeling. It’s okay. Deacon’s never going to find out I have a kid, something I let slip to Handsyguy37. “I work for animal control.” I stop myself before I tell him about the scholarship opportunity. I’m trying to minimize the number of people who know about it in case I don’t get it.
“Wow,” he says as he parks in the lot next to Vince’s Italian and Barbecue restaurant. “Is it as exciting as it seems?”
