I was. “You want to go out for a drink sometime?” Now that I said it I realized it wasn’t so hard. He would either accept my offer and I would be thrilled, or he would say no and I would move on.
A slight reaction happened in his eyes, like he was surprised by what I just asked. He set his cup on the counter again like he intended to stay. “I would love to.”
My heart did a backflip.
“I assumed you had a boyfriend. Pretty girls like you aren’t usually available.”
I tried to stop my cheeks from tinting but I knew I was failing. “You’re in luck.”
“I am.” He pulled out his phone and asked for my number. “Are you busy on Friday?”
“With you.”
His eyes lightened slightly. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Sounds good.”
“I look forward to it, Frankie.” He gave me one final look before he grabbed his coffee and walked to the table.
I grabbed a towel and started wiping down the counters and appliances. My hands were shaking because I was so excited. My heart was pounding and my feet couldn’t sit still.
I had a date with Mr. Handsome.
First Date
Francesca
“Let me check your hair one more time.” Marie grabbed the curling iron and made a few more spirals in the back of my hair. Then she sprayed it with hairspray. “Okay. Now it’s perfect.”
She was making this into a much bigger deal than she needed to. “It’s just a date.”
“But this guy is hot.”
“All my dates are hot.”
“But Hawke is a whole new category.” She turned me around and looked me up and down. “You look great. He’s going to be drooling all over you.”
“He is hot and he seems really nice. But he’s a regular person like you and me.”
It didn’t seem like Marie heard a word I said. “I’ll be out until past midnight so you guys can have some privacy.” She gave me a dramatic wink.
“I’m not going to sleep with him.”
“Why the hell not?”
“I don’t know him.”
“What do you need to know?” she asked. “He’s hot. End of story.”
Marie and I operated our love lives in very different ways. Sometimes her approach was better and sometimes mine was. “We’ll see how it goes.”
“I put some condoms in your nightstand just in case.”
“Marie!”
“What?” she asked innocently. “You never know. Maybe he’ll forget to bring some.”
“You’re so—”
There was a knock on the door.
Marie clapped her hands excitedly. “He’s here!”
“Oh my god, you sound like a mom.”
“I’m your best friend so I am kind of like a mom.”
“No, your best friend is supposed to be cool,” I argued. “And a mom is supposed to be annoying.”
“Whatever.” She waved my comment away. “Answer the door. I want to see the look on his face when he sees you.”
It took all my strength not to roll my eyes. I wore denim jeans with a black tube top. I figured we would go somewhere low key so there was no reason to dress up. I liked this top because it made me look skinnier than I really was. Plus, I had nice shoulders. I wasn’t a fan of my legs so that’s why I wore jeans.
I opened the door and saw Hawke on the doorstep. It was the first time I’d seen him in jeans. They hung low on his hips, and he wore vans on his feet. His gray t-shirt fit him nicely. It showed the strength of his chest and the tightness of his stomach. And naturally, his face was beautiful. “Hi.” I tried not to make it obvious I was checking him out so thoroughly.
Hawke wasn’t discreet about it. He looked me up and down with obvious approval in his eyes. He stared at my shoulders then moved down my waist. His eyes moved to my face last, and when they were there they didn’t leave. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks. You look good in regular clothes.”
Hawk gave me that partial smile. “I look good in pretty much anything.” He had a playful look in his eyes that told me he wasn’t as arrogant as he sounded. “Are you ready?”
“Let me grab my clutch.” I stepped inside and grabbed it from the table.
Marie was standing there like a nosey schoolgirl.
Hawke spotted her from the doorway. “I recognize you. From the coffee shop, right?”
“Yep.” She walked to the door and shook his hand. “Frankie and I are roommates.”
“Very cool.” Hawke dropped his hand. “Seems like a fun place to work.”
“If you like people who get grouchy over coffee,” Marie said