Page 8 of Keeping it Casual
It’s not even a real date.
Yet I make sure I carefully shave, put on the fancy cologne I usually save for special occasions, and spend an inordinate amount of time and products trying to tame my hair into a style.
Lachie does a double take when I emerge into the living room. “You’re looking flash.”
“I’ve got a date. Will you be okay with some leftover lasagna for dinner?”
“Yeah, sure,” he says. Then he raises his eyebrow. “Is it a date with the guy from the park?”“
Something about his eyebrow raise and the expectant look on his face makes me realize I need to be honest.
“Yes, it is. But it’s not a real date.”
His forehead crinkles. “How is it not a real date?”
“It’s a fake date because everyone in town keeps encouragingus to date. So we’re going out once to get them off our backs.”
Lachie continues to look perplexed. “Why don’t you want to date each other for real?”
I blow out a breath. Under other circumstances, I would be interested in Jeremy. I can’t deny that. But things are different right now. I don’t want to tell Lachie that a major reason I don’t want to date relates to making sure I’m the best parent possible.
“Because it’s too soon after Robbie. I don’t want to date again at the moment.”
He still looks slightly puzzled. “Okay. Have fun on your fake date.”
“Thanks. I’ll try.”
Jeremy’s already seated at a table in the center of the restaurant when I arrive. I swallow when I see his stunning lips curved into a smile, his lean body dressed in a dark-purple shirt, and his dark hair slicked into a perfectly coiffed style.
Damn. It really would be so much easier if he didn’t tick so many of my boxes.
“Hey.” He half-stands then hovers as if he’s not sure of the appropriate way to greet a fake date.
“Hey.” I move forward to give him a friendly hug.
It’s only when I’ve got his body pressed against mine and the scent of his woody cologne invades my senses that I realize touching him is a really bad idea.
Something about having Jeremy close makes my whole body light up.
“You look good,” I say, releasing him.
He looks beyond good, actually. Good is not nearly advanced enough to describe how cute Jeremy is.
“Well, I’ve got to look like I’m putting in some effort. Otherwise, word will get back to my mother that I’m slacking in my dating efforts, and that would not end well,” he says as he sits back down at the table.
I mirror him so we’re sitting across from each other. “What would she do?”
“She’d probably demand to give me date training over FaceTime from her cruise ship in the middle of the Mediterranean. It’ll include a complete wardrobe evaluation, and then I’d probably have to role-play different dating scenarios with her. Honestly, it would be similar to the torture you’d find in the higher echelons of hell.”
I laugh. “So you’re going to be the perfect date, and therefore the reason our date fails is due to me?”
He shrugs, then gives me one of those wicked crooked smiles he seems to specialize in. “I’m prepared for you to be the fall-guy if it saves my skin. I’m a gentleman like that.”
I chuckle again as I glance around the restaurant. It’s a standard family restaurant. There’s a candle on the table between us, dripping wax down the sides, and the atmosphere is noisy and busy.
The waiter comes over to take our drinks order.
“Do you drink wine?” Jeremy asks.
