Page 5

“Hey, what are you up to tonight?” Izzy asks as soon as I answer the phone, and I lean back in the seat of my car and sigh.

“Another date.”

“Interesting,” she hums. “You’re really living it up, huh?”

I let out a sharp laugh and shake my head. “No, not really.”

“Oh, come on. You haven’t gone out in over a year, and now you’ve had two dates in two days. Sounds like you’re trying to get back on the horse to me.”

Checking the time, I turn the car off and open the door. “I promise it’s not what you think.”

“What is it then?” she asks.

“I don’t have time to explain it right now.” I stop by the front door of the restaurant, and lean against the wall, hoping I can get her to drop this before my date gets here.

“Tough, missy. Start talking and leave nothing out.”

“I really can’t, Iz. I’m standing outside the restaurant right now, and my date will be here any second.”

She huffs, and I imagine her crossing her arms over her chest and pouting, which makes me laugh. “Fine, but I want a full report this weekend. Capisce?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” I laugh. We wrap up the call, and I shove my phone back in my purse and turn to go in the restaurant.

“Are you Ali?” someone asks, and I look up, meeting warm brown eyes and a mop of curly brown hair.

“Zach?” I ask, and he smiles. He nods and holds his hand out to me. I shake it and relax a little. We’re off to a good start, and while I don’t get sparks or crazy butterflies when our hands touch, I do feel comfortable around him. When he releases me, he extends his hand out in front of him to indicate that I should go first, and I feel a little more of my stress melt away. He’s perfectly nice, and for the first time since this assignment started, I don’t feel like it’s the worst thing ever.

A hostess greets us and grabs two menus before leading us to a table out on the patio with a reserved sign on it. There are other tables out here but they are all empty, and I can’t help but feel like this was planned. I look over to Zach, who shrugs.

“I’m friends with the manager, and he owes me a favor,” he says, a slight blush rising to his cheeks.

“That’s really sweet. Thank you.”

He pulls my chair out for me and I sit while he goes to the other side, and the hostess sets the menus down in front of us. As she’s filling up our water glasses, I take a quick look through the menu and decide on what I want. This is one of my favorite restaurants so I was happy when Zach recommended it. She asks for our drink orders, and after we rattle them off, she leaves.

“So,” he says, and then his voice trails off and we both laugh, some of the first date awkwardness dissipating.

“I know I read it on your profile but tell me again what you do?” I ask, and he gives me an easy smile.

“I’m a manager at a clothing store right now.”

“Right now?”

He nods, taking a sip of his water. “Yeah, I’m going to school to get my business degree.”

“Oh, very cool.”

“Yeah, what about you?”

The hostess comes back with my wine and Zach’s beer, setting them down in front of each of us and leaving without a word.

“Well, I’m a crime reporter right now but I’m up for a columnist position so I’m really hoping that I get that.”

The waitress appears at our table before he can say anything else, and we both order and hand her back our menus before she bustles off again.

“What do you want to write your column about?” he asks when she leaves, and I smile. I love talking about my work, and I could probably do it all through dinner if he let me, so this part is easy for me.

“I’m not sure yet. I’d love to find a way to help people, though. It’d be a nice change of pace from what I’m doing now.”