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The next half hour was spent sucking water off the floor while Sloan wrung out towels and set up fans in the doorway. We worked without talking. The vacuum was too loud. But we kept stealing glances at each other.

I helped her carry a huge armload of wet towels to the washing machine. When the door to the laundry room opened, Tucker spilled out, and I dropped my towels and crouched on the floor, laughing and letting him lick my face. God, I’d missed him. He made crying noises at the sight of me and all I could think was, This guy’s getting a major finder’s fee later.

Sloan watched us with a smile and started the load. When she closed the lid and turned to me, I leaned in the doorway with my arms crossed. Tucker stood between us and looked back and forth with the same proud face he always made when he’d retrieved a duck for me and dropped it at my feet.

“Thanks for all your help.” She looked up at me through her long lashes. “This house is a mess. It’s really old. Things keep breaking.” She seemed unsure what to do now that the crisis had been dealt with.

I smiled. “Go to dinner with me.”

She blinked.

“Dinner, tonight, a date. Not an appointment, a date.”

She studied my face.

“I want to take you out,” I said. “Let me.”

If she said no, I was pretty sure I was going to beg.

“Okay.”

I grinned. Good. Finally. “I’ll wait for you to get ready,” I said. “We’ll leave Tucker here and I’ll get him when I drop you off.”

“But what about you? You’re soaking wet.”

“You get ready, and then I’ll drive us to my place so I can change.”

She gave me a wide-eyed stranger-danger look and I laughed. So that was the face she made every time I asked her probing questions on the phone.

“Here.” I pulled out my soggy wallet and fished out my ID. “Take a picture of my driver’s license and send it to Kristen.”

I handed it over and she looked at it. “You really are an organ donor.”

“And not a creeper or a pirate. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

She laughed, and I couldn’t even take my eyes off her.

She smiled up at me. “Give me a second to get changed.”