He squeezed my hand."She talk your ear off?"
"She does, but I don't mind.I love talking about all things books."His mother had been nice to me, but what would she think of us dating?Am I the kind of girl she imagined her son with?
"Tonight is just for us.I didn't want anyone giving me trouble."
My eyes widened."You think they would have crashed your date?"
"My brothers would probably text constantly, asking a ton of questions.They're pests.And I haven't dated anyone seriously."
"Did you tell them about me?"I managed to squeak, not sure how I felt about his family knowing about us.Would they think we were too different?
"I've been talking to my brothers.They've been giving me advice because I'm an idiot when it comes to you apparently."
"You talked to them about us?"I asked carefully.
"They were the ones who said I was scared of things with you moving too fast.I was keeping myself busy with work and not following up after our first date.They encouraged me to follow my feelings."
I leaned my head back on the seat."Is that what you're doing?Following your feelings?"
He glanced over at me."You know I like you a lot."
That warmed my chest."I like you too."
He grinned."We sound like teenagers with our first love."
My chest was bursting with happiness and excitement.I felt giddy enough to be one."I feel like one."
"We're making up for lost time.In another world, we might have dated as teens?—"
"And then what?Broken up because we were too young to handle something that was this serious?"
He sobered."Yeah, probably.I wasn't mature enough to have someone like you in my life back then.You would have demanded that I be a better person, and I wasn't ready for that.I was still causing trouble.I drove my parents crazy and they just wanted me to be happy."
"Not unreasonable expectations for your child."
"They put up with a lot.I give them all the credit for not giving up on me."
"Your parents are good people."
He smiled."They're the best."
He drove into downtown Denver, easily navigating the busy streets.He pulled into a parking garage, and we got out.I still wasn't sure where we were going.I hadn't seen anything on our route.
He held out his hand for me, and I placed my hand in his."You're going to love this, or at least I hope you will."
"I'm sure I'll love anything you planned for me."No man had done anything more than dinner or a movie for me.The fanciest date was the ballet at Christmas one year, but Maverick didn't strike me as a ballet or musical kind of guy.
He guided me down the sidewalk until we came to a large building, one I knew well but had never been inside.I brought us to a stop."You brought me to the library?"
He grinned."It's not just any library.It's the Denver Public Library.It was renovated in the nineties but still has the fifties wing.It's a blend of modern and historic architecture.It's supposed to be impressive."
My heart beat hard."You've never been here before?"
"I researched the perfect place to take a book lover on a date, and this came up."
I looked up at the imposing building."This is— I don't even know what to say."
"You might want to reserve your judgment."He guided me up the few stairs to the entrance.
