“Damn it.” He slammed his phone down on the table with force, and the rattle of dishes was loud enough that people at nearby tables looked over curiously. Kelsi smiled and waved them off, recognizing a few, but her smile felt plastic on her face.
“Sheridan?” she hesitantly questioned.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He finally seemed to notice the stares their table was receiving and winced. “It’s nothing, really. The Capitals are down two in the third period to the Bruins, and I had a lot of money on the Caps pulling this one out.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, not knowing what else to say. Would it be rude to ask how much he lost on the bet? Wasn’t there some rule against asking about money on the first date? She should have had Abby make her a cheat sheet or something.
Luckily, at that moment, their waitress returned with a food runner, who placed their plates in front of them and scampered back to the kitchen without a word. The waitress asked, “Can I get either of you anything else? Parmesan for the pasta?”
“I’m okay, thank you. It looks amazing.” Kelsi smiled at her.
“I’m fine too,” Sheridan grunted, already scooping noodles onto his fork and raising it to his mouth.
After eating, they spoke casually about their families, and Sheridan held her hand on top of the table. Kelsi learned that his parents were both engineers and he had one sister who was two years older than him. She was married and had a thirteen-month-old son. Once they’d finished the wine, they split a dessert. Sheridan paid the check, waving off her offers to split the bill with him, and they walked out into the humid air as he escorted her to her car.
Kelsi stopped against the driver’s side door, not yet opening it, and turned to Sheridan when he said her name. He inched forward until her back hit the car, raising his arms to grip the roof rack, closing her in.
“I had a great time tonight, Kelsi,” he said.
“I did too,” she replied automatically, and to her surprise, she realized it was true. Not perfect, but really, what first date ever was? At least it had far exceeded her nervous expectations, and Sheridan seemed like a great guy. Aside from his brief tantrum, the rest of the night had been pretty fun, and she wouldn’t mind going out again.
She gulped, nervous, not knowing whether or not he was about to kiss her. Did she want him to? She didn’t know, but before she could decide, he leaned in, eyes locked on hers before moving down to her lips. His tongue flicked out, licking his lips as his face grew nearer, and his eyes slowly closed.
But before his lips could touch hers, she panicked and turned her face so his lips met her cheek. Instantly, he jolted his head back, confusion in his expression, before he cleared it away and straightened, the picture of a gentleman.
Shit, have I ruined this?
“I know we said one date, but I’d like to see you again.” His trademark grin was back in place, and he pushed a hand through his hair in a move worthy of a Calvin Klein ad.
She gave a relieved grin at his response. So she hadn’t completely screwed it up. “I’d like that.”
His smile was bright enough to light up the local high school’s football field. She needed to temper his expectations a bit, so she lightly laid a palm on his chest.
“I really did have a great time tonight and want to keep seeing you, but I want to take it slow. I recently got out of a serious relationship, like I said, and I don’t feel ready to jump into a new one.”
“I can take things slow. I’m very patient when I need to be.” His smirk was pure male ego as he took a small step back from her.
She exhaled a breath in relief. “Great, and uh, thank you for dinner.”
“Anytime.” He smiled genuinely this time, tipping an imaginary hat toward her, and strode off to his sedan parked in the back corner of the parking lot.
Kelsi finally opened her door and turned the key in the ignition, exhausted and ready to be makeup free and in sweats on her couch.
She hummed absent-mindedly along to the radio as she made her way home. After pulling up to her house, she climbed out of the car, carefully stepping into the gravel in her heels, and headed up the porch. She stopped dead when she saw what was lying across her welcome mat.
CHAPTER 15
Kelsi
19 Days to Trial
On her porchlay a bouquet of pink lilies and begonias.
Kelsi’s face split in a wide grin. Had Sheridan brought her flowers? Is that why he was late for their date? Or—her heart skipped a beat just at the thought—could they be from Dylan?
Her smile fell slightly. Of course they wouldn’t be from Dylan. So what if he had called her perfect earlier? That was far from buying a girl flowers.
She picked the bouquet up and a plain white envelope dislodged from the wrapping. Kelsi shuffled the bouquet and the note into the crook of her elbow with her purse and used her free hand to fit her key into the lock. Once inside, she peered out the windows set into the door, scanning her yard, wondering if whoever had left these was still out there, watching to see her reaction.
