As far as pep talks went, it certainly wasn’t her best, but it did the job. I worked on deep breathing and shook out my hands in an attempt to rid them of their tremble. I felt somewhat normal when he returned to the counter with a bottle of wine and two bags of gummy bears, still all dimples and ridiculously good looks.
I took the items he’d placed on the counter and started typing in the prices. We weren’t a big enough store for a scanner, but by now, I knew all the numbers by heart. “Anything else?” I asked as I bagged up his groceries.
“You tell me. You sure I can’t bring anything more?”
I couldn’t help but wonder, was he really this sweet, or was it an act? I stopped to do something I hadn’t had the wherewithal to do before now, and studied his face, refusing to allow myself to get hung up on the pretty wrapping. As Luna liked to say, I had that radar when it came to reading people, and I needed to see if I got any kind of vibe off this man before I let him into my house.
Nothing pinged. No alarms sounded. No red flags shot up. I got the sense he was genuine. All I read off him was humor and maybe a hint of curiosity.
“Nope,” I said with a grin. “This is more than enough.”
“All right, then.” I gave him his total and passed the bags over along with his change.
“I’m really looking forward to tonight,” he said in an almost tender voice as he stepped back from the counter. “See you at six, Sawyer.”
“Yeah. See you then.”
I watched him leave and continued to stare at the door like a silly start-struck girl long after he disappeared.
“Whew-ee,” Georgia exclaimed a few seconds later. “Yep, this is most definitely a date, sweetheart.”
That was the very last thing I needed in my life. I’d sworn up and down after leaving Graham that I was done with men. Done. So why did her saying that make my belly feel all floaty?
“If you tell Dezzy I said this, I’ll deny it to the grave, but I’d give my left arm to be thirty years younger and twenty pounds lighter. That man is something else. No wonder the ladies of this town are all in a tizzy.”
“One: I’m definitely telling Dezzy you said that. And two: no one says tizzy anymore.”
“Well obviously they do, because I just said it, and I’m cool as hell. I may be old, but I’m still hip on all the trends young people follow.”
I snorted loudly, giving my head a shake, because Georgie was anything but hip on the latest trends.
“If you say so,” I muttered, going back to the receipts I’d been spending far too long on.
“I do say so, thank you very much. Now let’s talk outfits. I want to make sure you pick something to wear tonight that shows just the right amount of cleavage without being too obvious.”
God, she was just as bad as Luna.
Chapter Nine
Sawyer
Dinner was done, the table was set, and I was freshly showered and dressed in an outfit that Luna had approved when I had a mild freak-out earlier and texted her pictures from the front, back, and sides to make sure it looked good. My hair was once again a little wild, but I’d actually taken the time to put on a little bit of makeup. Not much, mind you, considering I was doing everything to get ready for tonight and trying to keep Renee from destroying the house, as well as changing her outfit and scrubbing her arms when she got hold of a magic marker and decided to draw all over herself.
It was five minutes to six, meaning Trent could show up at any moment, and as Georgia would say, I was in a tizzy. I’d lit a few candles for ambiance before deciding they made everything seem too romantic and blew them out. Then I’d second guessed myself and re-lit them only to change my mind again and blow them out.
I was a mess.
“Renee, honey, no,” I called out when I spotted her sitting on the living room floor in just her underwear. “You have to keep your clothes on, doodle bug.”
That was kind of her thing. Since she was old enough to do it herself, she’d strip down to her diaper or pullup or underwear as soon as we got home. I didn’t know if that was a normal thing with toddlers, but my girl had a serious aversion to clothes.
“Remember? I told you we were having company for dinner, so you couldn’t be running around in your underwear.”
The sour look she gave me would have cracked me up if I wasn’t freaking out. Ignoring the evil glare that could have peeled the paint off the walls, I snatched the cute little dress I’d put her in earlier off the floor and forced it back over her head. The mean mug was still in place when her face poked through the neck hole.
“If you keep this on, I’ll give you extra dessert,” I bargained as I wrestled her arms through the tiny straps. “But it has to stay on all night. Deal?”
I had her at extra dessert. “Deal!” she agreed readily. Once fully dressed, she went back to the coloring book and crayons I set up for her on the coffee table, and I headed back into the kitchen to double check that everything was absolutely perfect.
I was in the middle of contemplating re-lighting the candles when the doorbell rang.
My belly erupted with nerves so strong it felt like a swarm of hummingbirds had taken flight as I pulled in a deep breath and started for the front door. I was bound and determined not to turn into a bumbling idiot this time. I could act normal around this man. I would act normal, damn it!
I pulled the front door open and nearly swallowed my tongue at the sight of Trent standing on my front stoop. He looked amazing dressed down, and mouth-watering in running gear, but how he looked just then damn near fried my brain.
He was dressed in a pair of dark-washed jeans and a deep midnight blue button-down that he wore casually untucked, with the sleeves cuffed to reveal strong, corded forearms. His hair looked to still be a little damp, like he was fresh from the shower, the ends doing that insanely attractive flippy thing. There was still a coating of scruff on his jaw, but it didn’t look sloppy. It looked like it actually belonged there. It was clear the man had made an effort to look nice tonight, and damn, did it work.
Clearing my throat and shaking off the cobwebs trying to form in my brain, I gave him a smile that only shook the teeniest bit. “Hey. Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for having me,” he returned, dimples popping. “You look beautiful.”
Swoon!
I’d picked a brightly colored, lightweight maxi dress that swished around my bare feet. It flowed from my body, not really revealing a lot, but was completely strapless and held in place by a tight band that cinched around my chest, holding my girls in place and revealing just the slightest bit of décolletage. It was feminine without being revealing or making me uncomfortable.
“Thanks,” I said, trying to shake off the bashfulness creeping across my skin. “You look really nice too.”
“Kind of an improvement from sweat-covered running clothes, huh?”
I wasn’t so sure about that. He rocked the hell out of sweat-covered running clothes.
“Yeah, well, who am I to judge? You saw me in my ratty pottery clothes.”
His eyes glinted with sincerity as he said, “I thought you looked beautiful then too.”
I wasn’t sure how, but I somehow managed to keep my knees from buckling.