Since Cheyenne canceled, I was thinking about celebrating with a bubble bath.
She probably meant it as a joke, but there was nothing funny about the image that popped into his head of her in a bubble bath.
Kidding! What do you have in mind?
He shook his head to rid it of her and bubbles.
Savvy invited Caleb over for dinner and a movie tomorrow.
I’m glad you finally get to meet him.
Yeah.
So… was there an invitation in there somewhere?
Shoot!
It had obviously been a long time since he’d dated. He had no idea how to do this.
Wait! Do I want this to be a date?
Sorry. Would you like to join us for dinner? It’s my turn to cook for you for a change.
That depends. Do you know how to cook? I was under the impression Savvy does most of the cooking at your house.
Austin laughed. Was Debbie flirting with him via text messages? They didn’t exactly get a lot of opportunities to do that when they were surrounded by the kids.
Yes. I know how to cook.
In that case, I’d love to come.
Austin grinned. He shouldn’t be so happy that she’d agreed to come to dinner, but he was.
So… any special reason?
Austin stared at his phone, debating how to answer.
I mean, am I coming as your fiancée? Or something else?
Did she want to come as his fiancée? From the way Debbie responded to his kisses, he was pretty sure she didn’t mind pretending they were a couple in love. But he didn’t want to encourage that when he wasn’t sure they had a future.
Can it just be a friends thing this time?
Hopefully, she wasn’t as disappointed by that question as he was.
CHAPTER25
Debbie took one last look at herself in her rear view mirror before climbing from the Escalade. Even though it was an expensive vehicle, it felt less pretentious than the Porsche.
This was the first time Austin had invited her to his house, and she didn’t want to do anything to mess it up. That’s why she wore jeans and a t-shirt even though she wanted to dress up for him.
She still wasn’t sure why he’d invited her, but there was no way she’d say no. Yes, she’d experienced a momentary pang of disappointment last night when he asked if this could just be a friend thing. But she’d quickly responded with, “Sure.”
Unsure whether he intended this to be a date or just two friends hanging out with a bunch of kids, she was determined to keep it casual and follow his lead.
She took a deep breath, detecting the smell of wood smoke in the air, before knocking on the front door.
“Imma get it!” Cody’s voice came from the other side of the door, and Debbie smiled.
