He slowly smiled.

They stared at each other.

“Six thirty?” he asked.

“I can clear my schedule.”

“You do that.”

She bit her lip as he walked away.

He asked me out first!

“I want you to invite her and the kids over for Thanksgiving.” Colin had his mom on speaker as he walked around his bedroom getting ready. He’d cut out at four thirty that afternoon, but then got called into the engineering office in the city to discuss a change in the structures. Now he was rushing.

“It’s a first date, Mom. A family holiday dinner is a little soon, don’t you think?” She’d seen the flowers and called him on them the day she’d been at Parker’s helping with her finances. Then Grace opened her trap, and now his mom was running with the information.

“I’d ask you to get her over here even if you weren’t dating her.”

He ran a belt through his slacks. “I’ll see how things go tonight.”

“Thanksgiving is in two weeks.”

“I know, Mom.”

“Hmmm.”

He paused. “What?”

“Where are you taking her?”

“Out.”

“Fine, fine . . . don’t tell me. None of that modern woman, she pays half stuff. She doesn’t have the extra money.”

He rolled his eyes. “You do realize we had this conversation when I was seventeen, right?”

“She’s a sweet girl.”

He picked up his phone that was sitting beside him on the bed. “Maybe you should go out with her and I’ll watch baseball tonight.”

“I get the hint. Have a nice time.”

His finger hovered over the end button. “I love you, too.”

“Call me tomorrow.”

He rolled his eyes and hung up.

Even with the route to her house being cluttered with traffic, he managed to arrive at her gate with two minutes to spare. He rolled down his window to punch in the code to let himself in and hesitated.

He pressed the call button instead.

It rang twice before he heard Parker’s voice. “Hello?”

“It’s me.”

“You know the code.”

“It’s after five. It would make for a really short date if you accidentally shot me,” he said.

He heard her laugh and then heard the tone that signaled the gate to open.

He maneuvered down the driveway, past the equipment, the Porta Potty, and benches. Erin’s car was in front of the guesthouse. He couldn’t tell if Austin and Mallory were home.

Colin pulled up the steep drive and parked in front of the closed garage doors.

He walked up the steps and was greeted by Scout. “How you doin’, boy? Enjoying your freedom?”

The dog answered with a wagging tail and a stretch.

Colin knocked on the front door and waited.

He felt his hands needing to move. Nerves. That was new. He’d seen Parker earlier that day in passing, had teased her about picking her up in a dirt truck. He shouldn’t be nervous.

His palms started to itch.

The click of the door had him lifting his chin.

When the door opened, Scout ran inside.

Colin stood there speechless.

She wore a cream colored dress that ended midcalf. Her hair fell around her face, not something he’d seen very often since she wore it up in a ball cap or ponytail most times. Her skin was kissed by the sun with only a hint of eyeliner, and a rose pink lipstick made her lips even more kissable.

Simply gorgeous.

He couldn’t stop smiling.

“Is this casual enough?” she asked.

“Perfect. You’re perfect.”

Her cheeks grew even redder.

“Did you wanna come in? I need to grab a sweater.”

“Sure.” He closed the door behind him. “Where is everyone?”

“Austin said he was out with his friends. Mallory likes spending her weekends on campus.”

“So you’re here alone on the weekends?”

She walked away and it took everything in him to not watch the sway of her hips. Okay, he noticed, but didn’t stare . . . much.

“Austin eventually comes home. When he doesn’t, he calls or texts.”

She disappeared around a corner he assumed was her bedroom. He took the moment to look around the house. Fully furnished with all the things people collect over the years. It reminded him of his parents’ home.

Above the fireplace was a family photo.

For the first time, he saw Parker’s parents. She looked like her mother.

Parker walked up behind him and stopped. “That was taken a year before the accident.”

“They were so young.”

“They were.”

He looked at her, then back to the photograph. “Well, Mr. Sinclair. I promise to be respectful and bring your daughter home at a decent hour.”

That had Parker laughing.

“Shall we?”

She turned off lights as they made their way to the front door. When they passed the house alarm, he pointed and asked, “Are you going to set it?”

“It’s been messed up since the fire. I’ve been meaning to get someone out here to look at it.”

“You live out here next to the forest, your nearest neighbors are five acres away, and your alarm doesn’t work?” That didn’t sit well with him.

She tugged on his arm. “We’ve never had a problem.”

He shook his head and tabled the conversation for another time.

“Where’s the truck?”

It took him a minute to react. “It’s a county truck. The Jeep is mine.” He skirted around her to open the door. He’d had the four-door Jeep since they came out with it. He’d sometimes drive out to the desert with his brother to spin around in the sand and build a campfire. Lately he’d been too busy to do even that.

He closed the door and walked around the car before settling behind the wheel.

Parker fidgeted with her dress and then buckled in. “So where are we going?”

“Someplace I think will take your mind off your troubles.” With that, he turned down the driveway and away from his day job and her life.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Colin drove them out of the suburbs and into the heart of West Hollywood. Lights shined up into the palm trees and people filled the sidewalks.

“I don’t think I’ve been down here in three years,” she told him.

“That’s a shame. There’s a lot of life in LA.”

She smiled as he turned onto the Sunset Strip.

Colin found a parking garage and made a point of opening the door for her before she could do it herself.

She took the hand he offered when she stepped out of the car and smiled when he didn’t let go.

Colin led her to a building and into an elevator that opened up on the top floor to a restaurant. “Have you been here before?” he asked.

“I haven’t been anywhere other than the tourist attractions in Hollywood.”

He let go of her hand only to place his on the small of her back as he led her into the restaurant. His simple touch along with the soft glow of lights in the space had her in a daze.

“You said casual,” she whispered when they were being escorted to their table.