Page 6 of More Than a Blind Date

He blinks, and worry washes over his striking features. “I didn’t mean… It just happened, and I thought…I’m so sor?—”

I pat his leg under the table. “I’m joking. That was a great kiss. Like Princess Bride good.”

His confused look makes it clear that he’s not acquainted with the five purest kisses and the one to beat them all. Sometime during the next six months, I’ll have him watch that movie with me.

“I liked the kiss. Don’t apologize. But as far as rules, I think it would be better if we kept the fake part a secret. Do you think your friends heard what we were talking about? Duh, it probably doesn’t matter. They’ll never believe that you walked in here single, met me, then left engaged.”

He surveys the table, then kisses my cheek before saying. “They don’t have to know it’s fake. I’ll make them believe it. But I do want to tell my aunt. She can keep a secret. She’s my onlyfamily, and romance is kind of her thing, so I don’t want her getting her hopes up, you know?”

“You can tell her. And I need to tell my best friend for the same reason. She’ll probably figure it out since I mentioned my brilliant idea to her before I started going on dates. But the fewer people who know, the less chance of my family finding out this isn’t real.”

“We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” He picks up his fork and starts eating.

Then I do the same. Once I have some food in me, I’ll text my family chat with my good news.

Later, he pushes his empty plate toward the center of the table, and I give up picking at my food. “So what happens next?” I’m still in shock this silly plan worked, and now I don’t know how to move forward.

“We order dessert.” He picks up the little menu that Tanya left earlier.

“I mean with us. Do we try to spend time together so that we get to know each other better? Or do you just want to know what days we have wedding events? I’m sure we can make it work either way.”

“Whatever you want.”

This is going to be a long six months if he’s going to leave all the decisions to me. Except he hasn’t. He decided that we’d order dessert, and I’m happy about that. I’ll take my dinner home as leftovers and fill up on sweets.

He leans closer so that I can see the offerings. “What looks good to you?”

“The pecan pie looks good. Oh, but they have crème brûlée. It’s so hard to choose.”

Tanya grins as she walks up to the table. “I see y’all are looking at desserts. Have you decided?”

Dallas nods. “Two crème brûlées and a slice of pecan pie. And a coffee for me.” He glances at me, eyebrows raised, silently asking if the order is correct and complete.

“No coffee for me. If I have it this late, I won’t sleep a wink.”

“The desserts will be out in a jiff. And you need to post about your engagement. I keep checking. Do you know how hard it is not to tell our whole family? I’m trying to let you break the news, Rose, but I’m getting impatient.”

“I’ll post soon.” I hate feeling pressured. But in my family, that’s an everyday occurrence. Everyone likes to tell me what to do.

She points at me, then heads toward the kitchen.

Dallas chuckles. “You going to delay longer because she told you to post?”

“Was I that obvious?”

“Note to self. Do not tell Rose what to do.” He drapes an arm across the back of my chair. “If you wanted, you could snap a selfie and show off the ring.”

“Good idea. Do you like the ring? I shopped for days trying to find the perfect one. The diamond is lab-grown, so it didn’t cost me a kidney, but it’s pretty don’t you think?” I hold up the rose-shaped ring, waiting for him to comment.

“It’s beautiful, and it suits you.”

I tilt my head toward his, and in the cliché pose with my hand held up, I snap a selfie of the two of us. Then Dallas kisses my cheek, and I take another photo.

“You choose one and post it, then I’ll share it out. Which reminds me… we should follow each other on social media platforms. I feel like that’s kind of expected if we’re engaged.”

“You’re right.” I swipe between the photos, trying to decide which I like best.

We spend the next couple of minutes friending and following each other. Then I post the announcement photo, the one with Dallas kissing my cheek.

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