“My car or yours?” Celeste asked.
She did realize this was a date, didn’t she? “Everything’s on me tonight. The driving, the meal, the complimentary projector set-up.”
She laughed lightly and walked with him toward the door. “You are in a very generous mood.”
Generous? She really doesn’t know this is a date.He needed to clear that up, or what was the point? “My mother always told me that if I was the one doing the asking then I was the one paying for the date.”
She didn’t look surprised by his use of the word “date.” What did that mean? He didn’t ask, and she didn’t say anything more on the topic. They talked about inconsequential things all the way to Curry MacMurray. He had hoped she wouldn’t object to going on an actual date with him, but he hadn’t expected it to be this easy.
Over aloo gobi and korma, they updated each other on their work projects and kids. It was exactly like a very laid-back date and precisely like every meal he’d ever had with her. There was never any real discomfort between them, even when the situation could easily have been horribly awkward. And it was a date— a date she realized was a date— and still wasn’t uncomfortable.
“So how was your evening with Amy?” Celeste asked as she tore off a piece of naan.
“Evening with—? You mean the work party?”
She nodded. “You said you were there with Amy.”
He hadn’t beenwithAmy. “Amy and I were just both there alone. Her husband was home with their sick baby.”
Celeste’s eyes pulled wide. “She’s married? With a baby?”
Why did she sound so happy about that? “I even talked to her husband on the phone for a few minutes. So, I’m pretty sure Amy isn’t making it all up.”
“I didn’t think she was.” Celeste seemed to be biting back a smile. “So you weren’t there with Amy, you were just both there by yourselves.”
He nodded. “I would have taken you, but you said you were swearing off the usual Christmas things. And, while the party isn’t specifically a Christmas one, it is an end-of-the-year celebration, which seemed too close to the same thing.”
“Ah.” Still that barely concealed smile hovered below the surface. “I ended up watchingA Christmas Caroland putting up a Christmas tree last night, so I think my boycott of the Christmas season is officially over.”
“But the bucket list competition lives on?” He hoped she didn’t mean to abandon that. He enjoyed spending the time with her.
“Of course.”
He took a quick sip of water; the korma was a little spicier than he usually ordered it. “If we include the in-home screening ofThe Grinch, then this date can be dinneranda movie. Mom would have wholeheartedly approved of that.”
Celeste laughed. “Except I am the one providing the movie part of it. I imagine that would have earned you a tsk or two.”
That settled it. Two mentions of a date and she went right along with both of them. This was a date. He kept himself from shooting his fist up in triumph. They were finally on a date!
His phone buzzed in the exact moment Celeste’s chimed. They shot each other quizzical looks as they both pulled their phones out. It was Kristina.
Econ guy is getting weirder. Title IX office & campus police are looking into it. Wish you guys were here.
“The Title IX office,” Celeste said, her gaze sliding over the screen. “So the school considers this an issue of the safety of women on campus. I’m glad they’re taking this seriously.”
“She seems calm.” Mike read back over the text. “Worried,” he amended, “but calm. That’s a good sign.”
Celeste typed into her phone. A moment later, his phone buzzed as her text came to him as well.Getting weird in what way?
Far quicker than either Mike or Celeste could have managed it, Kristina texted back.Showing up in a lot of places. Asking me out every time he sees me even though I told him to stop. I think he might be stalking me.
Mike was instantly on full alert.You told the Title IX office and the police all this?
Yup.
“Oh, Mike. I wish we were closer.”
“So do I.” He typed a response to Kristina.You aren’t going out alone, right?
