Page 154 of With a Cherry On Top

It’s so normal that it knocks the air out of me.

“Yeah,” I manage. “Dinner next week.”

CHAPTER 30

The Secret Ingredient

Charlotte’s fingers trace lazy patterns across my chest, her body spent and pressing against mine as I tighten my arm around her. “We should go out.”

“Out where?”

“Out. Like on a date.”

Her fingers pause their movement. “We should?”

I watch her expectant gaze. Though we’ve talked before about us not just hooking up, we haven’t made anything official, have we? Do people her age evenmakethings official? Do peoplemyage?

“Yes. I’d like to, you know...take you out to dinner. Maybe bowling.” Noticing the scrunch of her nose, I quickly course correct. “A movie?”

Her fingers continue their path up and down my arm, lazy, absentminded. “I haven’t been on a proper date in forever.”

I brush my lips over her temple. “What’s a proper date?”

“A date you actually care about.”

My heart clenches. I press my face into the crook of her neck, overwhelmed by the simple fact that she cares. That she wants this. “I haven’t been onanydate in years.”

Charlotte shifts to meet my eyes, warm and teasing. “Are you nervous?”

I give a sheepish laugh. “I’m always a little nervous around you.”

“Yeah.” She grins, tilting her head like she finds that impossibly endearing. “You are.”

No poker face. Never with her.

“Areyounervous?”

“No,” she says, but her voice wavers, betraying her. “Not about the date.”

“About what?”

“Well, what happens when your brother hears about it? Or my mom? Or...everyone else?”

“I actually wanted to talk about that.” She tenses, chin tilting up. “If you’d like to go on that date—and many others—maybe we should come clean, tell everyone about us.”

She pulls back just enough to meet my eyes, curiosity flickering across her face. “Everyone?”

“My brother. Your mom. And...my boss. Amelie too.” She blinks but doesn’t react otherwise, so I continue. “Logan asked me to be his best man. I thought he was just doing it for Mom, but we talked. Really talked. I think things might be looking up between us.”

She grins. “Aaron, that’s amazing.”

“It is. And Amelie offered me a job.”

Her smile’s gone. “You already have a job.”

“A better job. As a chef in her kitchen.”

“Oh.” She studies me for a long moment, then tilts her head. “So...now that everything’s going great in your life, you want to smash it with a wrecking ball?”

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