"Dinner. Tomorrow night. The clubhouse."
"Just us?"
"No, Family dinner. All the brothers and some of their women. Everyone eats together on Sundays." He watches my face. "They'll want to meet you."
I should say no. A thousand reasons line up: I don't know these people, I don't understand what's happening between us, the age gap alone should give me pause.
Forty-two. Betty mentioned it in passing, casual gossip she probably didn't expect me to memorize.
Fourteen years older than me.
He could have daughters my age. Does he have daughters my age?
But when I look at Knox Stone, I don't see a father figure. I see someone steady. Someone strong. Someone who looks at me like I matter, like I'm worth protecting, like maybe—just maybe—I'm not as broken as I feel.
"Is that an invitation or an order?"
His mouth curves. The closest thing to a smile I've seen on him since we met. "Eight o'clock. I'll pick you up."
He's out the door before I can answer.
The door swings shut behind him. The diner exhales. I stand at the counter with my heart pounding and his money crumpled in my fist.
Betty appears beside me, that knowing look crinkling the corners of her eyes. "Well," she says. "That was something."
"I didn't say yes." My voice sounds strange to my own ears.
"Honey." Betty pats my arm. "You didn't say no either."
I stare at the door. Outside, the rumble of his bike grows distant.
