Page 66 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

“No idea.” He rounded the counter, holding out a hand. I took it. Was this something we did now? Held hands. It was the second time, if anyone was keeping count.

I liked it. But I couldn’t help overanalyzing it.

There was a quiet buzzing around us as we walked out of the B&B and toward the van. It seemed to fill the space between us with electricity. So many times over the last week and a half, we’d done exactly this: walked across the gravel drive in the warm sun to the oversized van. But this time was different.

As usual, he opened the door for me, waited till I was in, then went around the car.

I pressed a hand to my chest before he climbed in.Stop. Stop it right now. A single date was not a reason to go into cardiac arrest.

He got in, smiling over at me as he put his buckle on. “Please stop looking like I’m about to drive you into the woods and bury you beneath my favorite tree.”

I pressed my lips together. “You have a favorite tree?”

“Yes. I’ll show it to you right before I put you six feet under.”

“Perfect, at least I will get out of giving this presentation.”

He put the car into gear, glancing in the mirror before backing out of the drive. “Tell me about that. Where are you at with your proposal? Who are you up against?”

He’d picked the perfect topic. For ten minutes, we went back and forth, talking about my job and goals for my time at the company. I tried to turn it onto him and his future plans a time or two, but he always returned the topic to me. And since it had been weighing so heavily on my mind this trip, I was pretty happy to share and talk through some of the things I hadn’t had a chance or a person to discuss with.

“Have you thought about what you’ll do if you don’t get the job?”

I thought about making a joke about how he had such little faith in me, but I couldn’t, because I knew it wasn’t true. He was probably actually interested in my answer. He always seemed interested in what I had to say.

“I don’t know,” I said, truthfully. “If I’m not offered upward momentum soon, either through this position or some other avenue, I’m not sure I can stay there. It’s a great job, but it’s been pretty stagnant in the three years I’ve been there.”

He turned into the parking lot, and before he had a chance to respond, I looked through the windshield, leaning forward to see the entirety of the building. “Where are we?”

“Dinner.” He put the car in park, smiling innocently at me as if he knew how frustrating his lame half-answer was. But instead of elaborating, he just got out of the car and circled the vehicle, opening the door for me.

I paused before getting out. I’d swung my feet around and faced him, but didn’t stand up.

He leaned into his hand, holding the top of the door. “Second thoughts?”

I shook my head.

“You hesitated,” he said. He didn’t seem mad, but he also wasn’t his usual teasing self. “Hey, if I pressured you into this…”

I jumped out of the car, the guilt getting to me at the look in his eyes. Because, honestly, I really wanted to be here. I was excited for this date in a way I hadn’t been for any date in a long time. I was just nervous to be that excited, and that was a hard thing to put into words, so instead I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the building.

It was a whitewashed cottage-type home that seemed to have been converted to a business. A metal sign stuck into the yard read “Lasting Moments Photography.”

I stopped, and in another step, Finn was beside me, watching me with amusement. I pointed at the sign. “That’s not dinner.”

His smile appeared. “It is. Trust me.”

“There’s a closed sign in the window.”

“Ignore it.”

This time, I let him pull me forward. If we were going to be arrested for trespassing, I’d like to be able to say “he dragged me in.”

The lights were on inside, and quiet music was playing.

“Hey, Trish!” Finn called, looking around the corner of the little entryway we were in.

I felt an unreasonable flash of jealousy when the petite brunette came in. Her hair was short and super curly, and she was also super adorable. Her smile was wide, and even her teeth were white—the kind of white that I never seemed able to achieve with Whitestrips at home, no matter how sensitive they made my gums.

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