Page 32

“Okay. You’re right. I can be fun and breezy for one night. Easy, breezy, carefreezy,” I say, waving a hand in the air.

“Um, no. Stop that right now. Be your normal self—just scale back the worrying about twenty steps down the line, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Now go paint on a new coat of nail polish before Samantha and Griffin arrive,” Kara says.

Rolling my eyes but smiling, I tell her goodbye.

After quickly touching up my thumbnail, I walk out to the living room, where Jason is playing the Bluey app on the tablet.

“Hey, bud,” I say, taking a seat next to him on the couch. “You still feeling okay about me going out to dinner tonight?”

He nods without looking up then pauses the game. When his eyes meet mine, they grow wide. “Wow, Miss Danae. You look so pretty!”

“Well, thank you!” I respond with a smile. Standing, I do a short spin move to show off my dress to him. “You think I look fancy enough for a date with Mr. Griffin?”

He grins. “You lookrealfancy. Why don’t you ever dress up that nice for school?”

I laugh, glancing down at my mid-length cocktail dress. I bought it three years ago to wear to a semi-formal wedding, and it’s been collecting dust at the back of my closet since then. I’ve been wishing for another occasion to wear it, so as soon as Griffin told me “cocktail attire” as the dress code for our date, I knew this would be my wardrobe choice.

The first time I tried it on, I felt confident. I loved the clean lines of the halter dress that was fitted but not too tight, with a slit that made walking comfortable without being too revealing. The deep emerald color complemented my auburn hair while bringing out the green in my eyes.

Hopefully, it can bringme some confidence tonight.

Sitting back down next to Jason, I hold up the three-inch black heels in my hand. “See these shoes? These are the kind of shoes that look nice with a dress like this. I’m not about to wear uncomfortable shoes at school all day!”

Jason solemnly nods his head like he completely understands my logic, watching me strap on the heels.

Ding-dong.

At the sound of the doorbell, Jason jumps to his feet and races for the front door. I hardly have a second to take a deep breath before the door flings open.

“Sammi!” Jason yells.

“Hey, my guy!” Samantha’s voice calls back. I hear a loud high five take place before I walk into the entryway to greet Samantha and Griffin.

Griffin is smiling down at Jason, receiving his own high five. But the moment I step into view, his eyes lock on me and freeze. His wide smile slips as he stares.

I clench my fist to stop from chipping at the brand-new coat of clear polish.

“Um, hi,” Isay, voice tight.

Samantha looks up at me and grins. “Ow, girl, you look amazing!” She pivots her gaze to Griffin, and her grin quickly changes to a smirk when she sees his expression. A sharp elbow jab to his ribs accompanies the exaggerated clearing of her throat.

“Yes, wow, Danae, you look gorgeous,” Griffin stutters.

His perfectly tailored navy suit is doing all sorts of good things for his broad shoulders and athletic legs. The top button of his cream shirt is unbuttoned, toning down the formal look of the suit. The longer hair at his forehead looks carefully styled and freshly trimmed. The fade of his faux hawk is so subtly blended, no novice barber could achieve such perfection—a perfection that makes him all the more attractive.

A flush heats my cheeks as his gray-blue eyes remain locked on mine, a twinkle sparking in them as he slowly smiles. I’m suddenly incapable of standing a single inch closer to him without spontaneously combusting.

Swiveling on my heel, I motion toward Samantha. “You can follow me to the kitchen, Samantha, and I’ll show you some options for dinner!”

Mercifully, Griffin remains in the living room talking with Jason while Samantha walks with me. I have no reason to open the refrigerator, but I open the door and let the cool air wash over me anyway. “Um, there’s a pitcher of filtered water in here if you want that instead of the tap water,” I say, as though Samantha didn’t already know that from the first time she babysat.

Her dancing eyes let me know she sees right through my water display ruse.

Opening a cabinet door, I show her the boxes of mac and cheese and canned ravioli.