He held up his hands. “Slow down, Skye. Did you miss the part where this is a first date? I don’t even know anything about Lexi yet.” Other than the fact that she was beautiful and he was attracted as hell to her. “That’s why we’re going to dinner, so I can learn more about her. I haven’t decided where I’m taking her to dinner yet, but it will be someplace nice. As far as everything else, let’s not make it out to be anything more than it is yet, okay?”
“But—” Skye started, before he cut her off.
“It’s just a date, Skye. If it goes well, maybe we’ll go on a second one. That’s about as far ahead as I’m thinking.”
Skye looked dejected, probably because she’d already been planning what kind of cake she’d make for Dane and Lexi’s wedding. Which was hilarious since she couldn’t seem to come up with one for her own big day.
Of course, he wasn’t being exactly honest with his sister. In reality, he was hoping his date with Lexi went really well. But there was no way he was ever going to tell his sister that.
Dane had known how special Lexi was the second she’d walked into the station that first day at work. Besides being the most attractive woman he’d ever seen, there was something about the confident way she carried herself along with the calm way she did her job that impressed the hell out of him. What could he say? He was a sucker for a strong, confident woman.
If there was ever a woman out there in the world who was perfect for him, it was Lexi.
It wasn’t like he didn’t date—he wasn’t a monk—but there weren’t many women who were interested in getting serious with a firefighter. Some thought they were into it, but the first time their new boyfriend walked in smelling like a charcoal briquette, things got too real too fast. They usually bailed after that.
But that obviously wouldn’t be a problem with Lexi. She was a paramedic, which was like having a PhD in firefighters. She knew exactly what the job entailed and what she was getting into when she dated one.
He was putting the cart before the horse, though. First, they had to spend time with each other outside of work and see if they were even compatible. If they were, maybe then he’d allow himself to think about something more a little further down the road. But, hey, a man could dream.
“So, have you decided which cake you like best?” Skye asked.
Dane glanced down and realized he’d been eating the entire time he’d been daydreaming about Lexi. He couldn’t remember a single thing he’d tasted.
“They’re all great,” he told his sister. “Why don’t you make all of them? That way you wouldn’t have to spend so much time worrying about which one is right.”
Jax actually looked hopeful at that suggestion, but Skye frowned.
“You’ve spent the last hour eating cake and the best you can come up with is to make them all?” she demanded. “If you think you’re getting out of here after a lame suggestion like that, you can forget it. I don’t care if we have to make a hundred cakes, you’re not leaving until we have the perfect one for our wedding.”
Dane was about to tease her about writing down the cakes’ flavors on pieces of paper and picking one out of a hat, but then he saw the look of near panic on his sister’s face. Crap, she was really freaking out about this. He took a deep breath and got serious. Skye was his sister, and she needed help.
“Let’s take a step back and see if we can trim the list of possibilities down to a more manageable number, okay?” he said gently.
Skye regarded him suspiciously. “How are we going to do that?”
“Simple.” He set his fork down and put all the cakes they’d tasted in a row. “Instead of trying of figure which one you like the most, pick the cake you like the least. Jax and I will do the same until we narrow it down to the one that stands out from all the others.”
She considered that for a minute then nodded. “Okay, I can do that.”
As Skye focused on the cakes, Dane saw Jax mouth a silentthank you.
That’s what brothers were for, right?
