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“You ruin all the fun,” Leah whined.

Tori opened the door for Chance and let him in. He was dressed up tonight as well, black dress pants and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and the top buttons were undone. He could have posed for any romance novel cover at this moment, and women would flock to buy them all. She’d be first in line.

“You look amazing,” he said.

“Thank you. So do you,” she said.

“Go on, kids. Be safe,” Leah joked from behind her. “Do all the things that I would do.”

“If she’s like Maddox, I don’t think we have time,” Chance said.

“Definitely not enough time. Probably too many morals, too,” Tori teased as she slipped her jacket on.

“Hey!” Leah laughed. “Go. The gremlin and I plan to stay up all night and get wasted.”

Tori rolled her eyes as she followed Chance out onto the porch. Chance took her hand and led her to his SUV before opening the door for her.

Once she was in and buckled, she tried to think of the last time anyone had done that for her. She came up short. No one ever had. Not even Isaac had opened the car door for her when he was still pretending to be a good guy.

“Ready?” Chance asked as he buckled in.

She nodded. It had been years since she’d gone on a date or been to a nice restaurant. She didn’t make a habit of being in a position to be asked out. She was a single mom and that rarely worked out in her favor as far as dating went.

The last time she’d gone out with a guy, he’d clearly expected her to put out at the end of it. She’d paid for her portion of dinner and had Leah come pick her up. That was two years ago.

By the time they’d made it to the restaurant and taken their seats, her nerves had taken over completely. She was suddenly terrified that she was going to do or say the wrong things, and Chance was going to be the one wanting to leave.

“You okay?” Chance asked after they ordered. “You haven’t said much.”

She hadn’t really said anything. “I’m just a little nervous,” she admitted.

“Why?” Chase put a hand over his heart. “I’m offended. This is our third date. You should be more relaxed by now.”

“What?” She tilted her head, trying to figure out what the hell he meant.

“We went out last Saturday night. Then we had a lunch date today. And now makes three. It could be four if you could that time you stole my groceries.”

“Oh, my God. Stop saying that!” she laughed. “People are going to believe you.”

“You did,” Chance insisted.

Tori looked around to see if anyone was listening to him. “I did not. I accidentally moved your basket, not the same thing.”

Chance brushed her off. “Feeling better now?”

“You said earlier wasn’t a date,” she fake pouted.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Their server returned with their food before she could argue. With an extra wink to Chance, she left after setting it all on the table.

Tori laughed. “Does that happen often?”

“Annoyingly so,” Chance groaned. “It’s better when Maddox is with me because he flirts back, and they usually leave me alone.”

Tori shook her head. “You know he took Leah home the other night?”

Chance nodded. “I didn’t say anything to him about it, but yeah. I mean they’re both adults, and I don’t think that either of them went into it with expectations.”

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