Page 24 of November

“Sure.”

Lainey winked at her before she headed toward the back office just as the door opened and India walked through.

“Okay. I’ve got a large vanilla iced coffee, a large caramel latte, two peanut butter cookies, and a peach tea.”

“Peach tea?”

“I thought if Sarah was here, she’d like it, and if not, I would drink it.”

“She’s not. Off today,” Maisie replied.

“All mine, then,” India said as she set a travel container with the drinks and a brown bag on the counter.

“I thought you wanted coffee.”

“Just caffeine.” India took the tea and looked around. “Where’s Lainey?”

“Back office.”

“Should I take this back to her?”

“No, I’ll give it to her in a minute,” she replied. “She’s… on the phone… with her doctor. She’s got a… rash.”

“Oh,” India said, scrunching up her nose and looking down the center aisle as if she could see the fake rash from there.

“That’s not true.” Maisie shook her head. “She’d kill me if she thought I let you leave thinking that.”

“Shedoesn’thave a rash?” India asked.

“She might, but I wouldn’t know about it. Paige might.”

“Who’s Paige?”

“Lainey’s girlfriend.”

India took a long drink of her peach iced tea through the straw, and those brown eyes bore into Maisie’s, making her suddenly very nervous.

“So, do you have any plans tonight?” Maisie asked.

India shook her head, still with the straw in her mouth, making drinking through a straw look sexy.

“Um… There’s this dive seafood place I was going to go to. They have great food, but it’s a hole-in-the-wall place. Literally, it’s a hole in the wall. You order there and eat as you go, or they have picnic tables sometimes. Do you maybe want to grab some cheap seafood and eat it at a picnic table where there may or may not be bird poop?” Maisie shook her head while she laughed. “I’m making this sound awful, I know, but it’s good food, at least. Super chill.”

“Your kind of place?” India asked.

“Super chill?”

India nodded.

“I’m a pretty chill girl, yeah.” Maisie smiled.

“Is this a date?”

Maisie cleared her throat and said, “Yeah, it would be a date.”

India bit her lower lip and asked, “What about this? I’ll pick you up at your place and take you to a nice restaurantwhere we can order an amazing bottle of wine and the chef’s tasting menu. I can get us a reservation. There’s also a new play I’ve been dying to check out that just opened. I can make a few calls and get us some good tickets.”

Maisie’s eyes widened. So, Indiawasinterested in going out with her, but she wanted to go to a fancy restaurant and then to some play after?