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"Ronan?" She leans against the open door with a frown. My focus is pulled to the muted rose color on her lips. "What are you doing here? I can't talk long. I have a date."

Despite knowing a date is coming, she isn’t kicking me out. She is focusing on the friend who's at her door instead of worrying about someone who's coming, like I had known she would.

"What time is your date supposed to be here?"

She glances down at the dainty gold watch on her wrist, a frown forming. "Right now."

I frown back. "Oh, he's late."

She peeks her head out to look down the hall before ducking back in with a shrug. "Life happens; people are late sometimes."

"Don't even try to pull that with me, Mia." I grin. "I know tardiness is one of your least favorite things, so it's a good thing your date is standing right here."

Her arms cross over her chest. "What are you talking about, Ronan? Kat set me up—"

"With a new client who is looking to update his bachelor pad," I recite. "He's new to the city and wants a fun evening out with no commitment required."

"How do you possibly know all that?" she demands, hands on her hips now. "Did you set Kat up to this?"

"His name is Ryan, right?" I ask with a smirk.

"Oh, my god, you asshole!" She's laughing as she shoves me lightly, so I don't take the insult to heart. "Come in while I finish grabbingmy things."

I step inside the apartment, shutting the door behind me and watch as Mia walks over to the couch. Her place is exactly how I pictured it. A workstation is set up at the window in the living room, overlooking whatever view she has. The couch has blankets folded across the back, pillows on either end to create a cozy atmosphere. There are pictures hanging on the walls, showcasing her eclectic taste, and somehow pulling it all together to make it unquestionably Mia.

"Why didn't you ask me out like a normal person?" She's sitting on the arm of the couch, slipping on a pair of flats. "You tricked Katrina into asking me for you."

I stuff my hands in the pockets of my jeans, suddenly unsure if I want to own up to this—own up to the truth that I wasn't sure it'd work in my favor if I asked her myself. I hadn't been brave enough to face what felt like the very real possibility that Mia would reject me.

"I wasn't sure you'd say yes," I admit quietly. She looks up from her shoes to stare at me with wide eyes. I shrug. "Having Katrina tell you she wanted to set you up seemed like a safer option."

"After the success rate she has with you, I'm surprised you took the chance." She stands, grabbing her bag. "All right, what are we doing tonight?"

She's not turning me down, not kicking me out. Instead, she's standing before me, looking like a realization of every dream I never let myself dream, ready to go out with me.

"Well, that's for me to know and you to find out." I grin. "Are you ready to go?"

We fall into easy small talk as she leads me out, locking her apartment behind us. She tells me about some of the marketing clients she has right now, and I fill her in on how I'm concerned Emmiemight not be taking this as serious as I'd hoped. We keep talking about whatever comes to mind as I navigate toward downtown.

I manage to find a parking spot fairly close and lead her to the small cafe the date will be taking place at. For this first date, we’re doing something completely out of my comfort zone. It’ll hopefully give me the chance to show Mia I’m the man she always believed me to be by showing that I listen to her interests and take her desires into account.

But if I accidentally burn anything, I hope she takes some pity on me.

"So we're doing dinner?" she speculates. She linked our arms together the second I came around my SUV to join her on the sidewalk and hasn't let go since. "Is that the plan?"

"We are technically doing dinner," I reply, reaching for the door to the cafe. "But it might not happen in the way you're expecting."

Eyeing me curiously, she steps through the door and stops at the hostess stand. I give the hostess my name and she marks us off before leading us up a winding staircase in the back. Mia gasps when we reach the top, but says nothing else as we're led to our stations.

The hostess takes our drink order before disappearing back downstairs.

The second we're alone, Mia turns to me. "Are you serious, Ronan? A cooking class?"

Her hazel eyes are practically gleaming with excitement, and I don't care how many things I burn if it means I get to see this. Grinning down at her, I nod. "Yeah, are you surprised?"

"Um, yes, absolutely! I never would have guessed you'd pick something like this. I know why you're always eating at Bryce and Josie's."

"When you have the same delivery person five days in a row, it gets a little pathetic," I reply, my cheeks flush. "I can't promise I'm going to be good at this."