to go. My tender feelings can handle it.”
“I was serious too.” She lifted her head and pulled air into her lungs, enough to make her voice sound strong and businesslike, the way it usually did. “I want to go. Are you still going to take me, or do I have to go by myself?”
She lifted her chin, and yeah, maybe her look was a little challenging, but that’s kind of how she felt. She was gonna take a chance; surely he could give her a few minutes to waver back and forth before she did.
“All right then. The first practice is tomorrow.”
“I assume the practices are here?” she asked, indicating the church.
“They are. I’ll pick you up. Unless you’re at my house.”
She nodded.
“Are you still staying with Mrs. Hudson?”
“You mean the grapevine hasn’t told you that?”
“It has. But I wasn’t going to admit that I knew where you lived. It seemed kind of stalkerish.”
“It is.”
“Did I scare you?”
“I’m the scary one, remember?”
“I’m trying to up my game. I can’t let you best me.”
“I think I’m more than willing to let you win the scary person contest. If that’s what we’re having between us.”
“Good. I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be the one winning. Since I’m the man.”
“Oh my goodness. That was sexist.”
He grinned. And she had to return it. Since he’d known right away that she was joking. She liked that he could read her mind and enjoyed her sense of humor, which was maybe a little unusual.
“Never thought I’d be dating my best friend’s little sister,” he said, shaking his head as he pulled the legs out on a table and set it up.
“A date? We’re going to choir practice. That’s not a date.”
“Sure is. We’re dating. Never thought I’d see the day.”
She put both hands on her hips. “You tricked me. You said choir practice.”
“What would you call it? I’m picking you up, we’re going somewhere. We’re going to have fun, spend some time together, and if I’m lucky, maybe we’ll enjoy taking a walk in the moonlight afterward, or maybe we’ll get some ice cream.”
“I can’t believe you tricked me like that.”
“You’d rather go bowling?” he asked with a lifted brow, probably knowing what her answer would be.
“Of course not. But choir practice isn’t exactly something you would like. I can’t believe you’re not wanting to take your date mountain climbing or something.”
His face didn’t even cloud. Her heart skipped along, happy.
“That’s next week.” He grinned. “And this is not some arbitrary faceless, mindless date person. It’s you. There’s a difference.”
Okay, he definitely warmed her heart with that one. That he wasn’t just putting in time, going out with the only available female in town.
That made her feel like she might be a little special.
“So.” She held the ribbon between her thumb and first finger and pulled it along, feeling its silky softness, coming to the end, and letting it fall before she spoke again. “Are we dating exclusively?”
He looked up from where he was pulling the legs out on another table. “Definitely.” He paused for a minute, looking at the leg without moving it. “Did you have someone else you were seeing?”
His voice sounded a little insecure, and he didn’t look at her but busied himself with the table again.
“No... Did you?”
“I have a lot of faults, have done a lot of things that I wish I hadn’t.”
Somehow, she got the impression that Joyce was lumped in with that. Although, she was almost certain that he would say he didn’t regret Liam. Liam had turned out to be the instigation that he needed to get out of the situation that he was in.
“But dating two girls at one time has never been one of them.”
“I see. I guess I knew that.”
He grinned. “I guess you did.”
They worked for another forty-five minutes or so, until the basement was decorated just as beautifully as it would have been if Reagan had helped her.
Tomorrow, she’d go with Preston to choir practice. Their first official date. She could hardly believe it. And she had to admit she was a little scared.
Chapter 12
Preston’s hands were sweating on the steering wheel as he pulled into Mrs. Hudson’s house.
He’d seen Athena this morning before he left to go help Loyal, and he’d seen her again this evening before she left.
But this was a little different.
Plus, there was a small wrinkle in his plans.
He was just stepping out of his truck when his phone rang. He thought about not getting it, but when he