I hang up and get back to work.Between clients, shopping for Alexi, running it over to her place, and closing up, the day flies by.
When I get home, Ledger is outside playing with Beans in the front yard.He grins at me as I park, and my heart stutters in my chest.
Beans spots my car and takes off like a rocket, his ears flapping.I barely get the door open before he launches himself at me.
“Hey, baby,” I coo, bending to pet him.“Did you have a good day?”
“He definitely did,” Ledger says, chuckling as he comes over.“We went on another walk this afternoon.I think I’m his new favorite.”
“Traitor,” I whisper to Beans, my lips tugging into a smile.
Then I look up at Ledger properly and forget how breathing works.
He’s changed out of his earlier t-shirt and into a dark button-down that hugs his broad shoulders and fits a little too well around his chest.The sleeves are rolled up, showing off strong forearms crisscrossed with veins and faint scars.His blond hair is slightly mussed, like he’s been raking a hand through it.
He looks like he just stepped out of the pages of one of my romance novels.
And he’s my date tonight.
“You, uh… clean up nice,” I say, my voice coming out higher than usual.
He smiles slowly, like he knows exactly what he’s doing to me.“You look beautiful, Daisy.How was work?”
I blink.I’m still in my black skinny jeans, work shirt, and boots.Purple hair dye streaks my wrist, and I’m pretty sure my mascara is smudged under one eye from rubbing it earlier.
Beautiful.
Heat floods my cheeks.
“I… haven’t changed yet,” I stammer.
“Then I can’t wait to see you when you’re ready,” he says simply.No teasing.Just that warm, steady tone that makes my stomach flip.“Our reservation at Palmer’s is at seven.You’ve got time.”
Of course, he made a reservation.He’s got everything planned out.
“Right,” I say.“Okay.I’m just going to… go make myself slightly less scary.”
“You could show up in sweats and still be the most beautiful woman in the room,” he says easily.“But yeah, go get ready.I’ll feed Beans and take him out back.”
My heart does an actual somersault.
“Okay,” I repeat faintly, bolting inside before I can say something truly humiliating, like “Marry me.”
I shut my bedroom door and lean against it, palms flat on the wood, trying to slow my racing pulse.
“Okay,” I tell myself.“It’s just a date.One date.”
A date with your insanely hot new roommate who walks your dog and says things like “You’re beautiful.”
“Not helpful,” I mutter to my brain.
I kick off my shoes and strip out of my work clothes, tossing them into the hamper.The mirror on my dresser catches my eye, and I pause.
My black hair is a wavy, tangled mess from my rushed morning and long day.My clip is barely hanging on.My chest has a faint pink mark where a hot curling iron grazed me earlier, and my cheeks are still flushed from Ledger’s compliments.
I stand there for a second, taking myself in.
Curvy.Soft.A little chaotic.
