Page 63 of At First Smile
Eyes wide, my heart thumps. “Trina, behave. Please.”
“Prima-interrogation, remember?” she purrs.
“Come on, Trina, let’s go grill this gentlemen caller.” JoJo scoops up the laptop and bounds out of the room.
“JoJo, please hit the mute button if she is too Trina-like,” I whisper-shout behind them, hoping only JoJo hears me.
“I heard that Penelope Anne Meadows!” Trina tuts.
JoJo just giggles. “Give us ten minutes before you make your grand entrance.”
Despite the flutter of confused butterflies in my stomach, I snort. My nerves crackle due to this first date with Rowan. It’s our firstproperdate. At least that’s what he’d said after Bread on Saturday.
“May I take you on a first date?” His right hand brushes against mine as we walk towards the pier at Main Street’s end.
Despite the insistent pulse to reach out and weave our fingers together, my hand remains at my side. “Didn’t we already have a first date?” My lips slant into a teasing grin.
“Not a proper one.” His shadowed eyes, hidden beneath the brim of his cap, bore into me.
I can’t see them but feel the tender heat of his gaze caress my cheeks. Wildfire sparks across my body.
“First, it’s the first time I asked properly. Second, I’m not holding back like before. Third, I’m hopeful it’s just the start of many firsts with you.”
My lips lift with the memory. Four days later and my hand still pulses to be in his, and my stomach flips with the dizzying effect of his hope for many more firsts with me.
A hope I share.
After he walked me home, I agreed to let him take me out tonight and gave him my number. Sticking to his promise to follow my pace, he’s let me initiate most of our text exchanges over the last few days. Most, but not all. Thegood morning,how was your day?, and daily GB update, and photo messages demonstrate his restrained eagerness.
With one last glance in the mirror, I grab the cardigan and head downstairs. Halfway down the stairs, my steps halt and a giant smile blooms on my face at Trina’s aghast, “You brought a dog on your date?”
“What’s his name?” JoJo asks.
“GB.” Rowan’s Irish lilt hums in my ears.
“What?” Trina scoffs. “Does it stand for Good Boy? How original.”
“Gordon Bombay.”
JoJo’s high-pitched squeal echoes, “Adorbs!”
“A hockey player with a dog named after a character fromThe Mighty Ducks.” The eyeroll in Trina’s snark is audible.
“Says the eye doctor with a blind pug named Keller,” JoJo snarks.
I cover my snort.
Trina adopted Keller two years ago. Dogs with disabilities struggle finding their forever homes. My sometimes hard-ass East Coast bestie is a gooey mess for the three-year-old black pug. After he came into the shelter where she volunteers twice a week, she knew that she was his person. In true-blue Trina fashion, she bulldozed a speedy adoption, taking Keller home two days after meeting him. It’s the only decision she’s made that deviates from her thoroughly researched life plan.
“You named your dog after Helen Keller?” Rowan asks, amusement coating his tone.
“Yes.”
“Impressive.” A big grin is evident in Rowan’s rich tenor. “How old is he?”
“He’s… Nope!” Trinatsks. “You willnotdistract me with my dog Mr. Tall Sexy Hockey Player.”
“You are rather good looking. Pen called you devastatingly handsome after she’d first met you?—”
