Page 96 of Lee

Her gaze lifted to his, and once again, she didn’t reply right away. She just stared at him, as if she could read his true intentions in his expression. He hoped she could.

“Okay,” she finally said. “One date. I’ll give you one date.”

“Just one?” Lee asked, uncertain of what was in her mind.

“For starters.” Rori tilted her head. “If it doesn’t go well, we can just pretend it never happened.”

“That’s a lot of pressure on a first date,” Lee said.

“If you’d rather rescind your invitation, I’ll understand.”

“Nope.”

Lee didn’t know why she felt she had to make it a challenge for him, but he was up for it. He got the idea that she liked him enough to go on that date, but something was making her wary. So he’d respect that.

And since he already had a plan in mind for their first date that he thought might make her happy, Lee saw no reason to put it off.

“So… how about tomorrow afternoon?”

“What time?”

If her quick response was any indication, she wasn’t reluctant to have it happen so soon.

“Noon?”

“Okay.” She hesitated. “What should I wear?”

“Whatever you’re comfortable in. We’re not going anywhere fancy,” he said. “Unless you’d like a fancy dinner.”

Rori waved her hands in the air. “Oh no. Please. Nothing fancy.”

Lee chuckled. “Maybe we can do that some other day.”

“You’re very confident.”

“I am. Confident and hopeful.”

A smile bloomed on her face. “I’m… I’m looking forward to it.”

Lee was too. After they said goodnight, he watched her walk away and lingered with Elsa to watch her drive away.

Charli peered into the picnic basket on the counter. “You got everything?”

“I think so.” Lee brought up the list he’d made on his phone and checked it over one last time. “Yep. Looks like I have it all.”

“Take pictures.” She beamed at him. “I think this is so wonderful.”

“Me too.”

He closed the lid of the basket, then picked it up. Charli trailed him to the front door, where she gave him a hug.

“I’ll be praying it goes well.”

“Thank you.” Given that he only had one shot at this first date, he really appreciated his sister’s support.

Picking up the bag he’d left by the door earlier, Lee stepped through the door Charli held open for him and walked down the stairs to the driveway. He put the picnic items in the back of his car, then slid behind the wheel, eager to get the afternoon underway.

Actually, he really just wanted to get Rori into the car because then he’d know she wasn’t going to back out on their plans for the afternoon. She’d mentioned having to change plans she had with Essie for their date, so he hoped that since she was willing to do that, she wouldn’t back out.

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