I’m left standing there.
Lips tingling.
Heart clenching painfully as his helicopter lifts into the sky.
FOUR
DOUGLAS
I arrive ten minutes before I said I would.
This time, I’m going to finish the date. No interruptions. No calls.
No—
The door opens. And every thought I had disappears.
She steps out in a dress that hugs her curves in a way that’s meant to tempt and tease.
And it’s working.
My chest tightens.
She walks toward me, a slow smile building like she’s already amused.
“Okay,” she says, stopping in front of me. “I have a strategy tonight.”
I push off the truck. “Do you.”
“Mm-hmm.” She gestures down at herself. “I figured if I dressed to kill, you might actually stick around long enough to finish the date.”
I huff out a quiet breath.
“That your plan?”
“Seemed solid.”
“It is.”
She blinks. “It is?”
“You look…” I pause, because there’s a word for it, but it doesn’t feel like enough. “You look good.”
Her mouth curves. “Good?”
“Yeah.”
“Not great? Not amazing? Not ‘wow, Kathryn, I’ve made several mistakes in my life but letting you walk away would be the biggest one’?”
I step closer.
Close enough that the teasing fades just slightly.
“You’re stunning,” I say.
I can see it in the way her breath catches just a fraction. The way her eyes hold mine a second longer than before.
Good. Because I meant it.
