“You look amazing,” Jessa says from the doorway. She’s holding my coat. “Seriously. He’s going to lose his mind.”
“It’s just dinner.”
“Right. Just dinner.” She winks dramatically.
The doorbell rings.
My stomach flips.
“That’s him.” Jessa grins. “Deep breaths. You’ve got this.”
I grab my purse and head for the door.
Deep breaths.
It’s just dinner.
Professional.
Transactional.
Nothing to panic about.
I open the door.
Brody’s standing there in dark jeans and a moss-green sweater that makes his eyes look impossibly blue, holding flowers—actual flowers. Not just a sunflower this time, but a small bouquet of white roses and eucalyptus—and he’s so gorgeous I can’t breathe.
“Hi,” he says.
My brain short-circuits. “Hi.”
He’s staring at me. Not saying anything. And something painfully delicious and not at all professional flashes in his eyes.
Stop that!
“You look—” He stops. Swallows. “Wow.”
My face flushes. “Thanks. You too. I mean—not wow. Well, yes, wow. But—you look nice.”
Smooth, Chloe. Very smooth.
He holds out the flowers. “These are for you.”
“Oh. Thank you.” I take them, and our fingers brush for a half second. An electric zing shoots up my arm, stealing my breath for a heartbeat. “They’re beautiful.”
“I wasn’t sure if flowers were too much. Or not enough. Or—” He stops himself. “I’m overthinking this.”
“No, they’re perfect.” I step back. “Come in. Let me just put these in water.”
He follows me inside.
Jessa is standing by the couch, trying very hard to look like she wasn’t eavesdropping.
“Hi, Brody,” she says brightly. “Chloe, I’ll just—” She makes this very pointed eye gesture. LikeWow, he looks niiiiiice. Don’t you think so?
I shoot her a look that hopefully conveysStop that immediately.
She grins innocently. “Have fun, you two!”
