Page 68 of The Rebel

“Just now.”

“Come on up. Or better yet, wait for me and I’ll come downstairs.”

“Mom taught me you never pick up a girl for a date without walking to her door.”

I smiled. “Oh, I do like your mom.”

I was surprised that there was no weird tension between us anymore. Perhaps Anthony was right. Things would be different away from the office.

“I’ll wait for you here, then,” I said. “Unless you have more specific instructions.”

His eyes flashed. “I haveveryprecise instructions, Daisy, but I’ll keep them for later.”

Holy shit.Heat coiled through me at his words. I had no doubt that he was talking about sexy instructions. Was that where today was heading?

I smiled for no reason. After going inside and closing the balcony’s sliding door, I grabbed my bag and jacket.

“Hello again,” Anthony said when I opened the front door.

“Hi.”

Will you look at that? Now that he was this close, I was starting to get nervous again. But it was a good kind of nervous.

“Ready to go?”

I nodded, and he gestured for me to step outside. I felt him right behind me as I locked the door.

“You smell amazing.”

“My lilac perfume is at work again,” I whispered.

“I love it, and I love how it smells on you.”

He was so close that I was expecting him to kiss me. Instead, he pulled back, and I suddenly felt his absence. I looked at him questioningly, but he didn’t offer any explanation, so we just went downstairs.

Once we were in the car, he asked, “What do you think about a stroll through Audubon Park?”

“I’d love that. Haven’t been there yet.”

“I kept thinking about what we could do that you would enjoy and haven’t done before.”

“Hmm, what are the other options?”

“I’ll keep them for other dates.” He pointed to his temple as if he was committing them to memory.

My stomach fluttered. He wanted to take me out again? I liked the sound of that a little too much.

As he drove, I took a good look at him. He was wearing a dark green shirt and jeans with aviator sunglasses. Anthony LeBlanc was such a gorgeous man.

I settled in the leather seat, contemplating the mysterious ways in which life worked.

It didn’t take us long to reach the park. Since I knew virtually nothing about it, I followed Anthony’s lead. He took my hand and led me down an alley that was lined with huge trees.

“I feel like I’m in a fairy tale. I love old trees.”

Anthony looked at me strangely. “What?”

“Yes, I’m a tree person. In college, I even found my favorite one on the campus and went there to read. I sometimes spent hours there.”