Page 102 of Catch and Release

As much as he wanted to tell everyone he knew that he was taking Willa on a date, he understood why she wanted to keep things private for now. And he respected it, even though it made him a little sad. He wanted everyone to know she was his, but he’d play his part in keeping things a secret. For now.

So he’d already planned an excuse—one he hoped Grams wouldn’t see through.

“I’m going out to dinner with Hanna and Tucker,” he said.

Grams studied him, her eyes narrow with suspicion.

“Sure do look nice to go see two of your best friends,” she said, putting her hands on her hips and jutting her jaw out.

“Hanna wanted to try some new, fancy place,” Shawn said, his hands getting clammier by the second. “She called me and told me to wear this.”

He forced the lies to roll off his tongue naturally, but Grams didn’t budge.

“And what’s it called?”

He should’ve seen this coming.

“The Krusty Krab,” he said hurriedly, before he could overthink it.

Even if the name rang a bell for her, he doubted Grams would put together that it was from SpongeBob.

She scrunched her face up in thought. “Krusty Krab? Doesn’t sound fancy.”

“Well, it is. You know how seafood restaurants are. Their names never sound fancy.”

“Where is it?”

“My map will tell me,” he said with a grin, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“Hmm.”

He put his phone back in his pocket and grinned. “Can I go now? Is the inquisition over?”

“Can’t blame me for hoping you were going on a date,” she said with a frown. “Why didn’t you invite Hanna and Tucker over here to see me?”

“I will next time, Grams,” he said, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “But I gotta go. I’ll tell them you said hi, okay?”

“Alright,” she said, plopping down into her chair and lifting her feet. “I’ll be watching The Holiday tonight if you need me. So don’t need me.”

Shawn chuckled. “I’ll do my best. Love you.”

“Love you, too, Scooby.”

Grams wasn’t the only reason he was nervous.

He had big plans for Willa tonight, and everything needed to be perfect. Keeping Grams off his scent was a small part of making sure tonight went smoothly. The rest of it—well, he’d spent most of the day getting everything ready.

Shawn wanted to earn Willa’s trust. He wanted her to know that he believed in her, knew her, listened to her, and cared about her. And he wanted to show her how much she meant to him.

He climbed into his truck and drove a couple houses down, into her driveway, where she was waiting looking like an absolute goddess in that dress.

It was the seafoam green one she wore on the first day they met, when she showed up at his bait shop and turned his life upside down. He got out of the car, barely remembering the bouquet of flowers he’d bought earlier and kept in his truck to avoid any questions from Grams.

Willa beamed at him.

Shawn swallowed and held them out to her.

“Such a gentleman,” she said with a wink, then stepped closer to him and kissed him on the cheek.

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