Page 28 of Her Billionaire's Baby Secret

She turned around to see him standing next to her. “Hi, Kane.” Sariah gripped the sides of her half-filled plate. She suddenly felt nervous. Kane had a serious look on his face. It was almost like he was nervous too.

“Would you like to go dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“Did my grandma put you up to this? Because you don’t have to ask me out if you don’t want to. She can be a little pushy sometimes.”

“She didn’t put me up to it.”

“Then what was she saying to you over there just now?”

“She told me you wanted to get to know me better,” Kane said.

“I do want to get to know you better.”

“I feel the same way about you.”

Her heart flipped over in her chest when he said that.

“So would this be like a date?” Sariah fiddled with her hands.

“Yes, it would be exactly like a date.”

She considered the offer for a moment. She hadn’t wanted to date again until she’d gone through more therapy, but Kane wasn’t asking for a relationship. He was asking for one evening of dinner. He didn’t even live in Maple Creek, so it wasn’t like he was looking for something serious. When it came down to the bare truth, Sariah wanted to go on a date with Kane. She missed him. And it was a good chance to get to know him better. Maybe she could build trust with him like her grandma had mentioned earlier. Was that why she’d convinced Kane to ask her out?

“I’d love to go out with you tomorrow night.”

“I’ll pick you up at six.”

Kane pickedher up right on time. Sariah lived in an older house near Main Street where her shop was located. She’d bought it a few years after she’d taken over the store. It had been a bit of a fixer upper, but she’d put a lot of work into it over the years. Her favorite part about the house was the huge wrap-around porch that seemed to be so popular on the older homes in Maple Creek. When her house had been built, it hadn’t had air conditioning, so the original owners had escaped to the porch in the summer evenings when the house was too hot to stand. Now it had central heat and air and a modern kitchen and bathrooms. Sariah still loved to sit on her porch after dinner when the weather was nice. Tonight, she was sitting out there waiting for Kane to pull up, enjoying the crisp autumn air.

She’d changed her outfit three times before she’d finally settled on a blue blouse and black pants. She had on a long gold necklace and matching gold hoop earrings. She brought a black sweater in case it got chilly. She still felt underdressed. What was a girl supposed to wear on a date with a billionaire? She certainly couldn’t afford the designer clothes he was probably used to seeing on the women who swarmed him in New York.

Kane stepped out of his rental car and walked toward her. He took in her appearance and smiled. “You look nice.”

She’d spent extra time on her hair and makeup. She’d dyed her hair darker after a particularly empowering therapy session to help her through the trauma surrounding Elliot, and it had been a good change for her. She felt more accomplished and serious as a brunette. Tonight, she’d curled it away from her face in soft waves. She’d gone a bit darker on her makeup with a smoky eye and dark red lipstick.

“Thank you. You look nice too.” Kane had on a light blue dress shirt and slacks. He filled out the shirt well. He clearly spent a decent amount of time at the gym, something Sariah could appreciate. She was sitting on the porch, appreciating it right now.

She stood up and met him on the top step. “Where are we going tonight?”

“How does Hadley’s sound?”

“Perfect.” It was one of her favorite places to eat.

He opened her car door, and she climbed inside. He circled around to the driver’s side and got in before cranking the engine.

“Thanks for asking me to dinner.”

“It’s not weird, is it?”

Sariah twisted the black leather strap of the purse in her lap. “What do you mean?”

Kane backed out of the driveway. “Asking you out again after all these years.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m glad you did.”

“I’m really nervous,” he said.

“You’re nervous? You can get whatever girl you want.”

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