Going to a party filled with strangers was intimidating. No, nerve-wracking. Going as Dominic Fieri’s plus one, even more so.

I must’ve picked, re-picked, changed and changed my outfit again over fifteen times. I hadn’t been this choosy since prom.

It was a clear day, and surprisingly warm for the end of November. But the red and golden leaves promised that winter was just around the corner. It also meant winter break was around the corner. I’d already booked my flight back home, and I was leaving the day after school let out and staying until January. It would be the first time I flew back since I moved to Dallas in July, and I was so homesick I felt physically nauseous. I couldn’t wait to see the look on Zane’s face when I surprised him with a visit.

Dom picked me up around noon in his Highlander and we rode in near silence to his friend’s place.

“Where’s Nate?” I suddenly realized the car seemed empty without his voice in the backseat.

“With my parents,” Dom said vaguely. He resumed his focus on the road, and I looked out the side window, watching suburbia pass us by.

I’d put on some mascara and a swipe of lip gloss and blush, but nothing fancy. I wore my chunky gray and white knit sweater with a pair of wool leggings. Wool was definitely my friend this year. I looked conservative to the max and I wondered if Dom’s friends would think I was a prude.

“Hey, buddy,” someone greeted Dom as soon as he pulled up. Before he could even kill the engine, two other firefighters (I assumed) had come over to say hello. Mr. Popularity.

“Hey, Jax. Dane,” Dom greeted. “Long time no see. How’s married life?”

“Couldn’t be better. Care to make some introductions?” Jax asked, nodding to me. He flashed me a rugged smile, and I recoiled, intimidated.

“This is Winnie,” Dom said, not bothering to qualify the statement with how we knew each other. “Win, this is my buddy Jax, and this is Dane.”

I unbuckled my seat belt. “Hey, nice to meet you,” I warbled out, sounding like an injured songbird.

I shook Jax’s hand. His grip was firm, but his smile warm and genuine. “Welcome,” Jax said. “Don’t let any of these guys scare ya. They’re all just a bunch of goofs.”

I smiled hesitantly. I shook Dane’s hand next. “Nice to meet you.”

“So, the great Dom Fieri is finally getting back on the market,” Dane said. “About time, man.”

Dom cleared his throat. “Thanks.”

He didn’t correct Dane.

We stepped out of the car and I felt intimidated, to say the least, when more firefighters came to join us. It felt like an ambush. I’d never seen so many hot men in one place before. Suddenly, I felt out of my depth and sweaty. Had I put on deodorant before I left the house?

The small crowd of us walked inside the house, where I met Franco Manvetti, the party host. He was a white-haired ex-SEAL who stood ramrod straight, a military man with ropy muscles and a stern face. “Nice to see you again, Dom,” Franco greeted.

Dom made some more introductions before whisking me off to grab some drinks.

“I’m going to need some booze to take the edge off,” I grumbled, scanning the table for something alcoholic.

“Jokes on you, there isn’t any. The Manvetti family don’t drink, and there are kids here.”

“There are?” I groaned. What if one of them recognized me from school?

“Yep. They’re in the backyard playing on the trampoline.”

“Is Nate here?” I asked.

Dom nodded again. “Yep. Came with my parents.”

I nearly choked. “Your parents? Why didn’t you tell me they’d be here?”

“Does it matter?” Dom shrugged.

“Um, yes! I don’t want to meet them.” So much for coming to the party as his friend. No one would think that.

“We’re just friends. It’s no biggie,” Dom said. He squeezed the knot in my shoulder. “Relax, Win.”

No-no-no-no-no—there would be no relaxing when Dominic Fieri’s parents were fifty feet away. How could he ambush me like this? Before I could think of a plan to get away, Dominic grabbed me by the elbow and swiveled me around.

“Mom, Dad, this is Winnie,” Dom introduced.

I groaned audibly and dug my nails into my palms. Standing right in front of me was an elderly couple. The older man was the spitting image of Dom. Literally, the only difference was, Dom’s dad had more wrinkles and salt and pepper hair. The woman wore a boatneck sweater and jeans, paired with ankle boots.

“Nice to meet you, Winnie,” she said. “I’m Angela. This is my husband, Dave.”

I stuck out a shaky (and probably clammy) hand. “I’m Winnie.” My spine had turned to mush, and I felt like a muddy sandcastle about to collapse.

Just then, Nate burst inside like a sweaty torpedo, all grins. “Winnie! I didn’t know you were coming!” He circled his tiny arms around my waist and I blushed all the way to the tips of my ears.

“You’ve met Nate?” Angela asked, arching her right brow.

“She’s my teacher,” Nate chimed, before I could phrase things differently. Oh God, let me explain, I wanted to scream. I came here as Dom’s friend!

“Oh?” Dom’s dad, Dave, assessed me with a bemused smile, then glanced at his son. Dom was not perturbed the least that Nate had unveiled my identity to his parents.

Instead, Dom snaked his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder. “She saved Nate’s life on the first day of school,” he informed his parents proudly. “She’s a hero.”

“Oh?” Dave repeated, this time with a different inflection. “What happened?”

Dom proceeded to recount the story, with extra dramatic flair. He made me out to be some sort of fearless Good Samaritan, when all I did was foolishly run back inside a burning building to grab a kid’s inhaler.

At the end of the story, Angela and Dave looked at me with new appreciation. They didn’t even care that I was Nate’s teacher, just that I’d saved their grandson’s life.

“You need to come over for dinner next week, so we can properly thank you,” Angela insisted. “I mean, honestly, Dom, did you think treating her to dinner at a fast food restaurant would be good enough?” She tsked him, and he shrugged.

“It’s fine, really. It happened a while ago and—”

“We insist,” Dave added. “Angie will make her famous peach cobbler, won’t you, honey?”

“Sure will. And other goodies, too.”

I looked at Dom, who looked at Nate, who looked back at me. How could I say no…? “Looks like I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” I laughed.

“When my mother has her mind set on something, things tend to go her way,” Dom confirmed.

After the Fieris left to mingle with their friends at the party, and Nate rejoined the other kids on the trampoline, Dom pulled me aside to check up on me. “Do you hate me? For springing my parents on you?”

Yes. A million—billion times yes.

“Kinda,” I admitted. “I mean…they invited me over for dinner!” I squeaked. I’d dated my ex for a year and a half and I’d never met his parents before. This was a big deal, no matter how much Dom downplayed it.

“Free meal.” Dom shrugged, as if it was no big deal.

I groaned again. “They think we’re dating.”

“No, I explained—”

“I don’t know about this, Dom. Is it too late to back out? Can I say I—”

“They’re just my folks. They’re not going to eat you alive,” Dom reassured. “They like you.” I didn’t feel any better. I didn’t want them to like me, did I? Why did I even care?

“They don’t even know me,” I said. “You don’t even know me.”

“But what I do know about you, I like. And when I find out more, I’m sure I’ll like you more, too,” Dom said confidently.

“I’m your son’s teacher,” I emphasized. “This—we—I’m already overstepping boundaries just coming to this party.”

“You won’t be his teacher forever,” Dom said. “Winter break’s coming up. Then before you know it, it’ll be spring break. Summer will roll by in a blink of an eye and you won’t be Nate’s teacher anymore.”

“Summer break is still eight months out.”

“That doesn’t sound so far away.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Winnie Williams,” Dom said, coming closer, “I want to take you on a proper date. No kids, no parents, no colleagues and friends around. Just us.”

“Dom—I thought we’d wait till—”

Before I could mutter another half-baked excuse, Dom silenced me with a lightning fast kiss, a peck, really, that lasted less than a second. But the simple gesture managed to shut me up and wind me all at once, and my eyes grew wide. “I thought we were going to stay friends,” I whispered. “This doesn’t feel friendly.”

“You and I,” Dom said, pointing to my chest, then his, “we couldn’t possibly be friends.”

“People will talk—”

“Let them.”

“I could lose my job—”

“With your talent, you can easily find another.” Dom winked. I let out a sigh. Getting involved with a single dad who was almost ten years my senior was bad enough, but one whose son was in my class…? Nuh-uh. Everything about this screamed bad idea. Every bone in my body resisted the temptation to go with Dom’s plan.

“You need to stop living for others, and start living for yourself, Winnie. Chase your own happiness for once. Be selfish.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Reckless, you mean.”

“All just a frame of mind.”

“You’re asking me to risk everything.”

“Your job isn’t everything.”

“It is at the moment.”

“Then you need more to live for. You need…this.” Dom leaned in again, kissing me more softly this time. His lips feathered mine, sending a tremble that began at my mouth and ended in my toes. “Tell me you don’t want more. Tell me this is all one-sided,” he whispered. There was almost a desperate edge in his voice. “Say the word and I’ll stop and never bring it up again.”

“I…I don’t know, Dom.”

“Two kisses weren’t convincing enough?”

“You’re asking a lot. I barely know you.”

“How about three?” He kissed me again, and I should’ve hated him for it, but each kiss made me feel less certain about my convictions and more certain that I wanted to be with him.

“You’ve met my son, my friends and my parents. They’re the most important people in my lives. You know I’m a firefighter. I grew up here. What more do you want to know? Ask me anything.”

I thought for a moment. It was none of my business, but he said I could ask him anything. “Nate’s mom…” I trailed off, an open-ended question.

“Ran off with her Brazilian boss and abandoned us both. Next.”

There was a flash of anger in his response, but not enough emotion to indicate that he still cared about her. She was out of the picture. For good.

“Nate—how will he react to you dating his teacher?” I asked, looking around to make sure he wasn’t around to eavesdrop.

“He’s the one who’s been pushing me to ask you out, Winnie. He thinks I’m in love with you.”

I laughed. “So he doesn’t mind?”

“He wants this to happen. And so do I. So what do you say, Win?”

“Fine,” I finally conceded. “Just one date, and no promises. If things go south, we’ll go back to the way things were. No hard feelings?”

“It won’t go south,” Dom said. “Not when you’re dating a Fieri.”

“Cocky much?”

“What you call cockiness, I call confidence.”

He was a lot more confident than when we first met.

“So…I guess I have to go to dinner at your parents’? No getting out of that?”

“Not a chance. I want them to like you as much as I do.”

I scratched the back of my neck. My shirt stuck to my back, and I felt insanely warm. “No pressure, though, right?”

Dom’s chest shook with easy laughter. “None at all.”