“Um, ten minutes?”
“Done.”
She ran down the hall and headed straight for her closet, checking the back where she kept her nicer dresses. Yes! The goldenrod dress was there, and wrapped in plastic. Paige must have sent it to the dry cleaners before returning it. Ashley put it on and went to the mirror, admiring the ruching at the neckline and the way the skirt swung around her legs at the knees. She found some comfortable, yet flirty, wedge sandals to go with it and put on her favorite gold bracelet. It was the one she’d almost lost at work, and she briefly thought of her secret admirer who had saved it for her.
***
Chase swallowed hard when Ashley walked into the living room. Everything about her glowed. Her hair, her dress, her tan skin, her smile. He mentally picked his jaw off the ground and steeled his response. She used to look this radiant every day at work, back when they’d first started. Reid wasn’t the only guy to hurt her heart. There were other jerks before him. And after every breakup, she’d lost a little of that confident beauty she used to radiate. Tonight it was back like a force drawing him in.
He stood up, trying to remain casual and calm. “You look great. Are you ready?” He noticed the gold bracelet he’d picked up out of the dust and resisted the urge to take the hand it now rested on.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
“Want to take my car?” he asked.
“Okay.”
Perfect. He could drive her back here and walk her up to her door. The thought had the butterflies in his stomach starting a war.
He waited for her to lock up. A climbing vine sat in the window like it owned the place, its runners gripping the edges of the table as if it might lift it up and carry it off. Ashley and her green thumb.
They walked to his car, and he opened the passenger door for her, trying not to stare as she folded her legs in. Did she truly understand how beautiful she was tonight?
She touched his shoulder when he got in on the driver’s side. “Chase, can we split the bill tonight? Please? You’re not the only one getting out for the first time in a long time.”
He knew she’d try something like this. “Not a chance. This is my way of thanking you.”
She raised an eyebrow, but finally sighed and sat back against her seat. “Okay.”
“And no ordering water and a side salad either.”
She laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Though, to be honest, I’m more of a burger and pizza kind of girl, and that is not this place.”
“Then order a steak.”
“For a million dollars an ounce, no thank you.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Are you always this difficult of a date?”
“Oh, I’m your date now? I thought that was being presumptuous.” She gave him a coy smile.
“Is this a date?” He turned his eyes back to the road, nervous about how she might respond.
Ashley shifted in her seat and didn’t say anything at first. Great, she didn’t want to answer.
“Let’s go with what I told Flynn. Buddy dinner plans. Does that work?”
He forced a smile. “Of course.”
***
If only she knew why he was asking. Why was it up to her to determine what this was? Lina’s words rang in her head, but what if Chase was an exception to the rule? His life was not like everyone else’s, after all. A guy who never got out because of his responsibilities could want to be friends without expecting more. Wasn’t that why he’d invented his fake girlfriend in the first place?
She fiddled with her bracelet and looked around as he pulled into the sparsely-filled parking lot of Carmelo’s. Maybe that was why he’d suggested a Monday night, rather than the weekend.
Chase once again came around to get her door, and she thanked him, walking by his side into the restaurant. They were immediately seated at a little table by a window covered in expensive Roman shades. The flame from the tiny oil lamp between them danced in the dimly lit space. Why did fancy places have such terrible lighting?
Chase opened his menu, and she did the same, nearly choking when she saw the prices—all the more shocking because she was about to be unemployed. She hadn’t told Chase yet, but she had an interview with Lina’s boss tomorrow. Maybe it would turn into nothing. It was better not to hope too much.
