Page 65 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

“Making up for lost time, in fact,” I replied, pushing my hands into my pockets to secure them against acting on their own.

She shook her head, still laughing. “Yes. Tonight.”

“I’ll pick you up at five.”

She nodded, and we stood there a moment longer before her eyes shifted to the house.

“Okay, so this is usually where a chapter would end,” she said, gesturing between the two of us. “But do I just walk away now? Are you walking me back up to the house?”

I grabbedone of her hands mid-gesture, securing it in mine. I couldn’t help the laugh that rumbled through me. “Yes. I’ll walk you to the house.”

Her shoulders were stiff as she glanced down at our hands, but then, with apparent effort, she lowered them, giving a little nod that seemed almost to herself.

“Okay. To the house then.” Her eyes suddenly grew. “Rats, I forgot about Costa Rica! I need to go take care of this!” She pulled her hand from mine and started jogging toward the inn, but turned just before she rounded the house and called back, “See you at five!”

Chapter 19

One Date

Lucy

Lucy:Ineedtoconfess that I ignored almost everyone’s advice. I said yes to a date with Finn.

Dani: You’re living your own enemies-to-lovers story!

I bit my lip to keep the goofy smile at bay as I watched all their responses come in, my hands still a little shaky from the encounter outside with the dog.

The dog, I told myself firmly. Not the almost-kiss with the man I’d spent my formative years hating.

Which was part of what made Dani’s response so funny, because from the outside, yes, we’d gone from nemeses to this, and it would be hard to see where that shift happened. But from my side, we’d probably only had maybe a day where I’d been at odds with him. Bygones had pretty quickly been bygones, and I wasn’t about to hold the actions of his thirteen-year-old self against his twenty-four-year-old self, but it was still hard to see where we’d turned the corner into possible romance.

And what did it even mean? I’d said yes to a date, sure, but all the other concerns didn’t just disappear. The man lived in another COUNTRY. Were we just going to gloss over that fact?

Was I getting ahead of myself, though? It was one date. Before this trip, I’d gone on first dates a ton. Setups. Dating app matches. People I met through work. I didn’t say no to first dates.

I did, however, say no to the second ones. I wasn’t looking for a repeat of Michael. Or to mimic my mother.

So why, in my head, did I already expect there’d be a second date?

Time to put on the brakes. One date. I could enjoy one date—even if I did feel a little guilty to be going on it when I was on a work trip.

But Gary, my competition, had brought his wife to England. Surely, I could go on a date.

Still, just thinking about it was causing this tight feeling to claw its way from my chest up into my throat. Someone needed to tell my nervous system this was just a date.

I was pretty useless the last hour before Finn was supposed to get me. I’d settled the Jenkins’ family vacation mishaps and checked in with Ellie about finalizing details for a handful of clients. Finn had taken the Hastings on an afternoon outing, but I’d opted to stay back and work.

Partly because I didn’t think I’d take in much information on a tour if I was spending the whole time fieldingwe’re going on a date laterlooks from Finn, and keeping my own nervous system in check.

Finally, a half hour before five, I got up from the bed and changed from my shorts to linen pants and a breezy top—the best clothes I’d brought—fixed my mascara and brushed my hair. My mom had texted with more wedding-related details. Napkins and cake options. I shot off a quick text with a smiley face and “All sounds great!” then silenced my phone so I wouldn’t know if she responded. My worries were high enough tonight.

I went downstairs instead of waiting in my room for him to come up, which might have led to running into all sorts of B&B guests and having to explain where we were going. I could just see Finn taking the opportunity to tell everyone I’d been begging him for a date, and he’d finally given in.

The thought actually brought a smile to my face. I loved that he didn’t take things too seriously. Loved that he always made me laugh—sometimes in the most unconventional of ways.

“Is that an ‘I’m excited to go out with you’ smile or something more sinister? Should I be concerned that I’m going to end up on an episode ofDateline?”

Finn was sitting at the check-in counter, leaning forward onto his forearms. He was in a light blue button-up, and my eyes swept across it, thinking of that morning and his all-too-impressive shirtless physique. I yanked my gaze up. “Is that show still going?”

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