“I am. You’re late.”
“I’m not late. I’m exactly on time.” Give or take, she thought. “Just so you know, I’m going out to dinner, but I’ll be back later to tuck you into bed.”
He gave her a little side-eye.
“What? I’m allowed to have a social life. Yes, this is our week together, but I sometimes go out to dinner with friends.”
He turned his back on her, then spoiled the effect of his fauxpout by glancing back at her over his shoulder, as if to make sure she noticed.
“Yes, I see you’re expressing displeasure,” she told him. “I’m still going out.”
Once they were in his room, she prepared his dinner, then turned on the small TV mounted on the wall. She put on the Game Show Network to keep him company, then checked her watch and headed back downstairs.
Despite the fact that it was nearly six thirty on a weekday, the bookstore was busy. People came by after work or before dinner. Several young families browsed the children’s books. A few tourists were examining the collection of maps and “Things to do” guides that she kept up front this time of year.
As always, looking around her store gave her a sense of pride. She’d grown up knowing this was where she belonged and that feeling had never gone away.
“You look nice.”
She held in a shriek as she turned and saw Marcus standing behind her.
“Thank you,” she said, pressing a hand to her chest. “Are you doing the stealth thing on purpose?”
He grinned. “No. Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
She could see the big clock on the wall behind him. According to its very large hands, Marcus was six minutes early. A lack of traffic or a bit of eagerness on his part? She found herself wanting to know which but not wanting to ask. Maybe it was better to just tell herself he was excited about their date and wasn’t that what every woman wanted to hear?
“Let’s start over,” he said with a smile. “Hi, Jax.”
“Hi.” She took in the dark shirt and dark wash jeans—a change from his usual work uniform of khakis and a polo shirt with the company logo.
Marcus cleaned up good, she thought happily, aware of how the dark blue shirt brought out the color of his eyes. She’d always known he was a good-looking guy but somehow just now he seemed a little extra handsome in a kind of “take my breath away” moment.
In an effort to distract herself and maybe to ensure she would keep breathing she said, “You never mentioned where we were going for dinner. Any thoughts?”
His gaze immediately dropped to the floor before he raised his head and looked at her. “That’s an interesting question.”
“Because when you asked me to have dinner with you the concept was more existential than real?”
He grinned. “No, I knew we’d be eating.”
“Good because I didn’t have time for much lunch and I’m starved.”
“It’s more of a location concern,” he began. “Port Palmas is a small town.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Everyone knows everyone else’s business.”
True but why was he bringing that up? Shouldn’t they be talking about the merits of a café on the beach or that little Italian place out by the...
“Well, crap,” she said before she could self-edit. “We’re going out to dinner. Someone we know will see us and blab. Or one of your women will get upset and threaten me with a steak knife.”
He chuckled. “They’re not my women and no one is going to threaten you with anything, but if they do, I’ll stand between you and danger.”
“Thank you because a woman scorned and all that.” She thought about the dilemma. “It’s not that I mind people knowing we’re going out to dinner, it’s more...”
“That it’s a first date and we don’t know how it’s going to go and we’d like a little privacy and time before we have to deal with answering questions.”
