of their date and any chance at future dates.
After he’d carried her up to the truck, and then kissed her before they’d left the pond, she wasn’t so sure the date was over.
She would wait and see if he asked her out again. What would it hurt to go out with him again, even if the computer system had made an error putting their profiles together? If nothing else, Ariana was getting a real-life adventure instead of a fictional one through the pages of a good book.
She hurried through the shower, anxious to see Dillon again. He still had to take her back to Austin. Would he try to kiss her again?
Man, oh man, she hoped he would.
Chapter 8
Dillon hurried through his shower and shaved, just because, then slapped on some aftershave. He dressed in the nice trousers and polo shirts he reserved for meetings with clients and his best pair of cowboy boots.
As soon as he stepped out of his bedroom, he knew he’d take a brutal ribbing from his brothers over trying to impress Ariana. Well, to hell with them. He liked her. He reasoned with himself that he respected her and wanted her to feel comfortable and not overdressed in her pretty skirt. He checked his reflection in the mirror. It was a far cry better than when he’d dressed for the meeting at the coffee shop.
The events of the day had gone a lot different than he’d expected. Even with tipping over in the boat, he’d enjoyed being with Ariana. She had a fresh outlook on things he’d taken for granted. He liked that she was game to try something new. She’d gone from a corporate job to turning her grief counseling suggestions into a business she was good at. And a city girl giving fishing a try…well, they’d have to work on that. Plus, he had yet to teach her how to ride a horse.
He slowed as he reached the stairs, pausing in front of Emma’s bedroom door. He wanted to knock and see if she was ready to go down but didn’t want to rush her. At the same time, he wanted her to hurry so that he could see her again.
He’d never been that anxious to see a woman again. Most dates he’d been on over the past couple of years had ended up in bed. Afterward, he hadn’t called the woman to arrange a second date. He just hadn’t been that interested.
With Ariana, he wanted the day to continue and was already planning additional dates where they could visit local wineries, ride horses on the ranch and even try fishing again…from the shore. He’d even buy her a pair of boots that fit, if she’d let him.
Dillon headed down the stairs, passed through the kitchen for a beer and walked out onto the porch where his brothers, sister and her husband Coop were drinking beer and grilling steak, corn and potatoes.
“I take it we’re going swimming tomorrow,” Colton said.
Dillon nodded, twisting the top off the bottle. “I could use some help getting the boat out of the pond. We might need an extra-long rope to drag it to the edge where we can flip it over.”
“What exactly did you put on your preferences in your BODS profile?” Brand asked, a look of puzzlement on his face.
“It doesn’t matter what I put,” Dillon said, taking a quick sip of the beer. “You’ll have your chance to fill out your profile the way you like. I don’t need to know what you put down.”
“Emma said Leslie’s working to restore an earlier version of the software,” Brand continued. “What happened last night after we left her office? Did you break the system on purpose?”
“No, the lightning strike must have scrambled the system or hardware. I actually ran into Arianna coming out of the computer lab in the dark.”
Emma’s eyes widened. “You met last night?”
“We did, but it was in the dark because the electricity was off, and we made our way to the exit via the stairwell.” All twenty flights. His lips twisted into a wry grin. “We never exchanged names.”
Coop chuckled. “So, you didn’t know who Ariana was until you met at the coffee shop?”
Dillon nodded. “That’s right.”
“And the sad fact is that BODS has a glitch. They probably weren’t even supposed to be matched,” Emma said. “Leslie is beside herself. She’s still at the office with Tag trying to fix it.”
“So, what’s your plan for the evening, Romeo?” Ace asked Dillon. “Going to