Chapter 4
Okay, it was official. This was the worst idea I’d ever had.
Luke had sent the address to a place near the venue that stayed open until midnight. Thankfully, my costume was low-key, but the devil girl everyone might take me as was going to be so out of place with Luke’s distinguished gentleman sex appeal.
Why had he asked me out?
No. Why the fuck had I accepted? I had to tell him the truth. But … Jesus, what would that even sound like.
Oh, hey, thanks for the invite. Bee-tee-dubs, I’m a guy. That’s still cool, right? Yeah, let’s eat.
Ha. No. Shit would not be that smooth.
My phone chimed as I pulled into the full lot. I parked in the back before taking a deep breath and checking the message.
Luke
I’m out front.
“I shouldn’t do this. I should not do this.
” But I’d said yes, and I didn’t want to stand him up.
That’d be the worst. “No. Don’t be a dick.
” I opened my door and stood, straightening my dress as I coached myself.
“Eat, discreetly take these heels off under the table, and let him see we’re wrong for each other.
There won’t be any reason to keep this lie going for long. ”
The walk toward the bright lights at the front doors wasn’t nearly long enough to calm my nerves with heavy doses of cold air and the pep talk.
Exactly where he said he’d be, Luke stood off to one side, out of the flow of foot traffic going in and out, and scrolled on his phone. Definitely not an anxious man watching the crowd for the date he hoped would be a good time.
Holy shitballs, he was fine as fuck. A tall drink of water, Momma would’ve said. He’d taken off his jacket, looking a bit more casual in his vest and rolled sleeves. He must’ve run his fingers through his dark, gelled hair, leaving it a little softer. Was he nervous?
I chuckled at how mismatched we were in so many ways, and that was what ultimately gave me the courage to keep moving forward.
We’d find out soon enough this wasn’t going to work.
He’d go back to his formal life and snooty momma, and I’d go back to college and hopefully hook up with nameless strangers until I figured out what I wanted.
Luke wouldn’t be a victim of my lie.
He’d never know I wasn’t a girl because it’d never get that far.
“Luke?”
He turned at his name, then did a double take and a slow scan to my toes. Just when I thought he’d accuse me of catfishing him—because seriously, love you, Savannah, but I’m a man in a dress—he grinned and pocketed his phone.
“We might be overdressed,” he said.
“They’d probably kick us out if we went in naked,” I countered. “But it’d be fun to test the theory.”
Luke snickered and gave me his elbow as he had earlier. “Hungry?”
I bit my lip and nodded. We’d been so close tonight, staring at each. How could he not tell I was a guy? Maybe he didn’t care enough to?
Jesus, I was skating along the edge, just waiting to be pushed off it.
The restaurant was some sort of bougie burger place that took reservations and came with mood lighting to keep my secrets. I nearly swayed in relief.
“Name?” The bored guy at the host stand never lifted his head.
“Dorset,” Luke said smoothly, not at all put off by the attitude.
At Luke’s deep voice, the host snapped to attention and smiled, lowering his lashes in a flutter. “This way, please.”
“He’s totally flirtin’ with you,” I said at Luke’s ear while we trailed behind the host, who sashayed unnecessarily. Jealousy nearly made me forget that my date was probably very straight and that I was playing at being a girl.
Luke seemed confused for a moment, then cleared his throat. “I’m not sure I’d agree.”
Le sigh. Weren’t the most handsome always the most clueless? Even if they weren’t, it made Luke a little more charming for it.
The host seated us at a table near a corner, then gave one last longing glance at Luke before leaving. My green hue turned to a commiserating blue. That would be me by the end of the night, letting go of the guy for some other girl’s dream to come true.
“Have you been here before?” I asked as we lifted our surprisingly limited menus off the cloth-covered table.
“No. I hope we like it.”
They had burgers, sure, but they also had a selection of salads, entrees, and seafood. I snapped the linen folio closed.
“I have an idea.”
Luke glanced from his menu to me. Every second his eyes strayed from mine, checking out my other features, and I hoped to hell he wasn’t seeing too many masculine traits. He sort of blinked himself out of whatever he’d been thinking and cleared his throat. “What’s the idea?”
“How about we order for each other?”
His grin was slow and sexy as fuck when paired with an equally slow blink. “Think we know each other well enough? Isn’t that more of a third-date thing?”
“No, you’re thinkin’ of sex, which is not on the menu.” Winking, I added, “I checked.”
My comment could make him tense or run screaming, but I was relieved, yet again, when he let out a great breath and relaxed into his chair.
“Okay. Sure. You order for me, and I will for you.”
“Ha! Awesome. This’ll be fun.”
His smile froze for a second before he chuckled and returned to studying his menu.
Absolutely nerve-racking. God, to know what he thought of me, what he saw …
After squaring away that neither of us had allergies, we were quiet as we searched the food choices.
I wanted to make sure he didn’t get anything too pretentious, so I selected the messiest burger they served.
Something with loads of tricky extras like onion straws, coleslaw, and barbeque sauce smothering it.
Without saying a word to each other, we pointed to the item and gave details such as well-done and no substitutions when the server came to take our order.
Once left alone, the real date began, and I wasn’t about to let this get awkwardly silent.
I would not give him time to think too hard about the not-so-feminine Ashley he was with.
“How much does your momma hate that you asked for my number?”
Luke laughed, took a sip of water, then smiled as he said, “So you noticed the steam coming out of her ears?”
“I was worried the flowers would wilt.”
His smile turned rakish, completely fucking with the twitching situation in my panties. “I didn’t give her a chance to weigh in on it. She’s got her own ideas about who I should settle down with, and as you can guess, they don’t match my own ideas.”
“Settle down? What are you? A toddler runnin’ rampant?”
“No.” He smothered another laugh.
“Oh, a playboy, huh? No skirt left unturned, is that it?”
He snorted, a look of shock nearly overtaking him with just about everything out of my mouth. “Not in the slightest. I might have been on my share of first dates, but far fewer second dates.”
“Skirt turnin’ doesn’t even require a first date.”
“Nor am I a college kid hooking up like rabbits every free second.” He winked.
Oof, my heart.
“Touché.” I grinned, but heat surged in my cheeks. “But that’s not me either.”
“No? You accepted a date from a much older man. What should I think of you?”
I shrugged. “I can’t tell you what to think. But if you want to play it like that … What’s an older man like you doin’ with a younger gu-irl like me?”
He leaned forward slightly. “You have pretty eyes.”
It was the simplest of compliments, and yet it set off flutters behind my ribs to my toes.
“Hmm, what’s this? A blushing virgin?”
“I am a virgin.”
“Bullshit,” he snapped in the most non-snobby tone of the evening.
“I’m nineteen. We aren’t all sex fiends, you know. I come from a small town where gossip is currency. Plus, I have a shit ton of younger siblings and cousins to take care of and set an example for. I’ve never had the time for fuckin’ around.”
Luke tapped the fingers of one hand on the tablecloth and rubbed his jaw with the other. “And now the truth. Nineteen, huh? Not twenty-one?”
I quirked one corner of my lips and shrugged before taking a sip of water, avoiding the question and deciphering the look in his eyes.
“Anyway, so your momma wants you to get married?” I asked.
Luke sighed. “Yes. She was ready the moment I graduated from college, I believe. I’ve been able to thwart her at every turn since, but I’m running out of excuses.”
“You don’t want to get married?”
“No, it’s not that at all. I have no aversion to commitment.”
“What then?”
Luke chuckled and blushed. “Maybe this is more like a six-month-in conversation.”
“Fair enough. I don’t mind keeping our own secrets secret.” Not one bit.
I worried we’d settle into silence, but then Luke said, “So, nineteen. A freshman? Have you decided on a major?”
“Finance, for now. I think I’ll stick with it, but never say never and all that. That was your only question you get to ask me about school, unless we’re also gonna talk about your day job.”
“Financial advisor,” he surprised me with no hesitation. “We’ve got something in common.”
I sat straighter. “We do. My stepdad’s in finance too, an analyst. That’s how I found my interest in it.”
“Same, really. My father is also a financial advisor. Or rather, he was. Now he owns the firm and does less advising and more hobnobbing on golf courses.”
“Small world, huh? You know, you’re a lot easier to talk to than I’d expected for being so old.”
“Ouch. Hope you weren’t aiming for a second date,” he laughed.
“Ha. Of course not.” I checked a watch that wasn’t on my wrist. “I’ve got six other hookups to get to after this.”
“You said no sex until date number three.”
“No, forgetful old man. I’m the nineteen-year-old with raging hormones and a V-card that needs punchin’.”
He stared.
I stared.
His lips twitched, and I caved.
“Fine, you caught me. I have nothing planned after this.”
“And that V-card?”
I narrowed my eyes, wishing like hell I could really say what was on my mind. That I could suggest he be the one to do the honors. Fuck that third-date jazz. But I couldn’t, because we couldn’t. So I shrugged and said the responsible thing. “With the right person, sure.”
“How very mature.”
“Don’t be shocked. I told you I’m no sex fiend.”