Page 27 of Love Deep

I chuckle. “I just wanna get dinner,” I say. “I get really, really hungry.”

“Okay,” Riley says.

“Okay?” I look at Juniper.

“Okay,” she says with a wide smile.

ELEVEN

Juniper

I don’t know what I was thinking, saying yes to dinner with Fisher. Not that I don’t melt every time he’s near. I don’t find him any less attractive than I ever did. But I know it’s heading nowhere, so why dinner? He was just so cute with Riley at the diner. I couldn’t help myself. And the way he fielded the question about him wanting to be my boyfriend was expert. Being able to cope with awkward questions from an eight-year-old is an aphrodisiac I never knew existed.

“Are you ready?” Mom calls from the living room.

“Nearly!” I call back. It’s a lie. I can’t decide what to wear.

This is just a casual one-off date. I’m not about to date a guy who lives nearly two thousand miles away. Or eighteen hundred forty-seven miles away—I looked it up on Google. But I want to look nice. I want to feel attractive. I wanthimto find me attractive. Most of my semi-nice clothes I wear towork. And the ones I don’t wear to work are mainly covered in paint.

Lights flash across my bedroom window. Lights of a car. Of Byron’s truck.

Shit.

I pull on some jeans and a white camisole. It’s casual. But maybe it’s too casual if we’re going up to the Colorado Club. I pull off my jeans and top and grab the green dress I bought to wear to school, but haven’t worn yet. It’s still casual enough for Pizza Meet Ya, but it could pass at the Club. I think. I bend over, ruffle my hair and then flip back to standing. That will have to do.

I stumble out of my bedroom just as Fisher knocks on the front door.

“I’ll get it,” I yell.

But it’s too late. Riley and my mom are already opening the door. The last thing I need is for Fisher to be interrogated by my mom. She’s fiercely protective of me, and she has been the exact same way since I got pregnant. The first time.

“Come in,” Mom says. “Can I get you a drink?”

I practically sprint into the living room. “We can’t stop, Mom. We have reservations.”

As I’m talking, I lock eyes with Fisher. He looks… incredible. His hair looks like it’s still damp from the shower. He’s grinning from ear to ear at me, and it fills me with liquid joy.

I scan his body to make sure I’m not too off with what I’m wearing. His jeans skim his legs like they were tailored for him. And he’s wearing a white shirt, which lights up his face like he’s a movie star or something. He might be the best-looking man I’ve ever laid eyes on.

“I’m not inviting him to spend the entire evening withus, watchingJeopardy,” Mom says. “I asked the man if he wanted a drink.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Fisher replies.

“My, I love your accent. Say something else,” my mom says.

I roll my eyes. Is my mom flirting with my date?

I press a kiss to the top of Riley’s head and scoot under Fisher’s arm. “Gotta go. Love you, sweet girl.”

I take the stairs down to the driveway like the house is on fire as Fisher says goodbye to Riley and my mom.

“Wow, you really didn’t want me to quench my thirst. That’s kinda mean,” Fisher says. My eyes widen, and he bursts into laughter. “I’m kidding. But really, you couldn’t get out of there quick enough.”

He opens the truck door for me.

“Believe me,” I say as I get in. “I saved you from a fate worse than death. I’ve not been on a date in nearly three years. My mom would have wanted to know your inseam measurement before we were allowed to leave if she’d convinced you to take a beverage.”

Fisher brings up his hand. “Hold that thought.” He shuts my car door, rounds the hood, and climbs into the driver’s seat. “You haven’t been on a date in three years? What the fuck is the matter with the men of Star Falls? You’re beautiful. And fun and?—”