She was going on a date. An honest-to-goodness, freaking date. Whatever the hell that meant. Gia held up the short red dress in the mirror and then tossed it on the bed in favor of the soft forest green with elbow-length sleeves. When was the last time she’d been on a date?

Paul, probably a few months before she got pregnant, she thought, tugging the dress over her head. Subtle on top with its criss-cross fabric gathered over the bodice, it went sexy with the short, swingy skirt that ended several inches above her knees.

She paired it with her favorite heels in a creamy-gray snakeskin pattern.

Gia took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. She’d taken a little extra time with her makeup. Okay, a lot of extra time.

Earlier in the week at Carter and Summer’s, she hadn’t even gotten the words out before Phoebe and her father were volunteering to take the kids overnight so Gia could go out on her first official date with Beckett. Without the kids to fight for the bathroom she’d actually had an uninterrupted half hour for a shower and makeup.

This wasn’t just a “swipe on some mascara” occasion. This was a date. With the man she loved. This was big.

It called for a sexy sweep of eyeliner and some color to her cheeks. Even some eyebrow grooming. She left her hair down — for now — in its usual long loose curls and pursed her lips in the mirror. Hair up or down?

She grabbed her phone and took a picture in the mirror. Summer would know. With her city style, the woman always knew exactly the right look.

To Gia’s relief, Summer responded immediately.

Gia felt her color rise. They’d better make it to dinner. She was starving. But afterward … With the kids designing make-your-own-pizzas and watching movies at her dad’s, Gia was going to enjoy a sleepover of her own. She glanced over her shoulder at the overnight bag she’d packed. And took a deep shaky breath.

This was a big step, both publically and personally. In Blue Moon, a public declaration of any kind was huge. And in her world, with two little people watching her every move, officially claiming a boyfriend was a change that would affect them all.

They’d told the kids in the late autumn evening chill while they played with Carter’s pigs. Aurora had very seriously asked if Bucket would also date her. Evan had remained quiet, unreadable.

She really hoped Beckett was ready for this.

She checked the clock on her phone. She still had fifteen minutes before he picked her up. Good lord. What was she going to do for fifteen minutes? Wear a hole in her bedroom rug?

Her phone signaled. Startled, she fumbled and dropped it on to the rug. She picked it up and answered, grateful for the distraction.

“Eva!”

Her younger sister’s face filled the screen. “Tell me about your date,” she ordered, with the slightest hint of Carolinas in her voice.

“Okay, now I know you’re not a member of the Blue Moon Gossip Group so how did you know I have a date?”

Evangelina Merrill, her strawberry blonde hair shoved into a knot on top of her head, gave her a coy smile over her librarian-style glasses. “I have my sources. Including Dad, who when I called, had some familiar looking munchkins in the background.”

The wave of guilt tumbled over her. “How were they? Did Dad look overwhelmed? Were they having dinner?”

Eva held up her hands. “Chill out, G. You’re entitled to a night out, especially if the mystery man is hot and not in a band. What’s with the helicopter moming?”

Gia flopped back onto the bed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m tied up in knots about a date with a man I’ve been sleeping with for two weeks and I feel guilty anytime I pawn childcare responsibilities off on someone else.”

Eva rolled her eyes. “Ugh. I worry every time we talk you’re going to start espousing the merits of homeschooling your kids.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with homeschooling?”

“Nothing. For parents who didn’t have your history and math grades. You’d be ensuring that Evan and Aurora never see college if you were in charge of their education.”

“Thanks, jerk,” Gia pouted.

“Listen, at some point you’re going to have to understand that having more people involved in your kids’ lives is good for them. Socialization and all that.”

“Thank you Ms. Psychology Today.” Eva had pursued psychology as a minor in college and wasn’t shy about dusting off those textbooks whenever she spotted crazy.

“Deflecting.”

“Was there a reason you called, Eva?”

Her sister’s mouth spread into a grin. “Besides checking in with my sister to make sure she’s not turning into a raw milk-swilling hippie? Pretty much to just get the jump on the date details before Emma.”

“You always were the sneaky sister,” Gia laughed.

“I’ve had to hear all about her seeing him first when he showed up on your video chat with a dishwasher. So tell me, is this guy as gorgeous as Emma says?”

Gia closed her eyes. “So gorgeous. Remember how we used to all fight over the shirtless guy in the gum commercial in high school?”

Eva smiled slyly. “Oh, yeah. He was quite the eye candy.”

“Beckett makes him look like a pre-pubescent troll.”

“Wow.”

“You have no idea,” Gia sighed. “And not only that, but he’s smart, and kind, and steady, and loyal, and —”

“Great in bed?” Eva asked.

“Are you taking notes?”

“Maybe. You were saying?”

“Incredible in bed. Like life-threateningly amazing in bed. I’m worried I might die from pleasure.”

“I so hate you right now,” Eva groaned, pushing her glasses up her nose.

“If I were you I’d hate me, too,” Gia agreed.

She heard the knock and bolted off the bed. “Oh my God. He’s here? How do I look?”

“You look a little wild-eyed and crazy, but the rest of you looks smokin’,” Eva assured her.

“Okay, I gotta go.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go to dinner and get laid. I’ll just sit here and find that old gum commercial on YouTube.”

Gia disconnected and took one last look in the mirror before hurrying to her front door.

Beckett had pulled out all the stops in the wardrobe department, too, she noted. He wore a navy suit with a gray patterned tie. Glossy shoes in a delicious shade of caramel matched his belt.

His hair, with its slight waves on top, begged for her fingers to explore it. Those smoky eyes, an exact match for the tie, swept her from head-to-toe. She felt his gaze as distinctly as if it were his hands exploring her body.

“Hi,” she said, a little breathlessly.

He grinned that devilish grin and Gia felt her temperature rise by a few degrees.

“Hi,” he responded. “You look good enough to eat.”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “You’re not getting out of feeding me, Mr. Pierce. This is a dinner date.”

He took her hand and brushed it with his lips, sending a zing of current through her veins. “Then I can’t wait for dessert.”

Was it too old-fashioned to swoon? Gia wondered.

Beckett’s other hand flashed out from behind his back grasping a clutch of flowers in oranges, reds, and yellows.

“Oh, you’re good,” Gia said with delight, burying her face in the blooms. “You brought me a bouquet of fall.”

“I’m prepared to date the hell out of you so be prepared to be seduced, Red.”

It sounded like a threat.

“Let me put these in water,” she said, heading into the kitchen. “Would you like a drink before we go?”

He hummed. “I think it would be best if we left. Otherwise, I’ll be tempted to drag you to bed.”

Gia, feeling safer with the island between them, laughed. She found a gold crackle vase on the top shelf of one of the cabinets and arranged the flowers in it. “Where are you taking me tonight?”

“It’s a surprise,” Beckett said, eyeing her as she set the vase on the kitchen table. “I think you’ll like it.”

“Karma Kustard?” she teased.

He reached for her hand and pulled her in. “I thought we’d try some place a little more romantic.” His thumb skimmed her palm. “And a little less Blue Moon.”

“I’m intrigued,” she said, savoring the warmth of him against her.

“You look beautiful, Gianna,” Beckett said, cupping her face in his hand.

“Thank you. So do you,” Gia flushed. “Handsome, I mean.”

They stood touching, gazes locked, for a beat and then two.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to looking at you,” Beckett said finally. He leaned in and down. Gia’s lips parted with jagged anticipation. But instead of brushing her mouth with his, he kissed the tip of her nose and pulled back with a regretful sigh.

“Come on, beautiful. Let’s go to dinner.”

He helped her into her wool trench, hands lingering on her shoulders and sweeping her fiery curls off of her neck. And with another sigh, Beckett led her out the door.

He drove them north, his headlights catching leaves as they tumbled free and floated from their branches. A symphony played quietly through the speakers of his SUV.

“Are you a fan of classical?” Gia asked.

Beckett took her hand and held it. “Mom was very big on music so growing up we got quite the eclectic education. She always had a radio on. Of course we always did battle to listen to ‘our’ music,” he smiled at the memory. “Then when Carter came home hurt, we noticed his anxiety was better with music. I guess Mozart and Beethoven got their hooks in me then, too.”

Gia squeezed his hand. “It’s peaceful. Was it hard seeing Carter like that?”

She tried to imagine the calm, steady man she knew riddled with emotional wounds.

Beckett cleared his throat. “It wasn’t easy. He left my brother and came back someone none of us recognized. But he found his way back again.”

“And you helped,” Gia said.

He shrugged. “Everyone did. Mom smothered him in a way only she could get away with. Jax checked in every day with ridiculous Hollywood stories until he could fly home. We had a lot of help on the farm and in the kitchen. That’s one thing we know how to do in Blue Moon, shove our help down your throat.”

Gia smiled. She could see it, a never-ending line of casserole-wielding neighbors winding its way through Pierce Acres.

“And what did you do?”

“I punched him in the face. Repeatedly.”

Gia blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“Boxing,” Beckett winked at her. “He wasn’t just afraid, he was angry. We’d get in the ring and beat the shit out of each other. We both had some anger built up so we fought it out.”

Gia closed her eyes. “I can’t imagine you two fighting. It’s so … barbaric.”

“Says the woman with a heavy bag in her shed.”

“A heavy bag doesn’t have a face. Why were you angry?”

Beckett weighed his words. “First and foremost, you don’t hurt a Pierce without incurring the wrath of the rest of us. And, at the time, I guess I was still pissed that the path he chose, the path that took him away from our dad in his last years, was the thing that almost got him killed.”

Gia nodded. “And you felt guilty about being mad at him.”

“Of course.”

“What did your mother say? About the boxing, I mean.”

“We never told her,” Beckett said. “We’re not stupid.”

“Neither is your mother,” Gia said dryly. “She had to know. Besides, you can’t do anything in Blue Moon without the entire town talking about it.”

“Fitness Freak has a ring in the back with its own entrance. Doesn’t get a lot of use, but Fran — you know Fran?”

“You mean the coolest woman on earth?”

“Yeah, that’s Fran,” Beckett laughed. “Anyway, she gave us the key and asked no questions. So we’d sneak in once or twice a week, whenever things got bad for Carter. I held back at first. He had fucking bullet holes in him. But that just pissed him off more.” Beckett shook his head.

“Now, that I can see.”

“He called me a pus—” Beckett shot her a sidelong glance. “Uh, a name and I just snapped and put him on his ass. It was the first time I’d seen an honest-to-God smile since he’d come home.”

Gia stared out her window, a smile playing on her lips. “Men are idiots.”

“We’re not idiots,” Beckett countered. “We’re blunt instruments. We walked around with black eyes and cuts on our faces for a few weeks, but since it seemed to be helping, everyone — including Mom — knew better than to ask about them.”

She rolled her head on the seat and shot him a smile. “I really like you, Beckett.”

She watched the rush of feelings her words conjured sweep across his face.

“You like me because I punched my wounded-in-combat brother in the face?”

Gia nodded. “Yep.”

Beckett shook his head. “Women.” He turned off of the highway and onto a dark country road.

“We are going to a restaurant, aren’t we? You aren’t just taking me to some rural gas station for candy bars and beef jerky, are you?”

“Gianna, Gianna, Gianna,” Beckett sighed. “You should have specified where you wanted to go,” he teased.

He made another turn, this time at a wooden placard that said Horseshoe Lake. Gia peered through her window but couldn’t see much beyond the soft glow of lampposts and trees that lined the drive.

“How’s Evan doing with everything? He seemed pretty quiet when we told him about us,” Beckett said, followed the road as it meandered through trees.

“He’s very private about how he processes things. The most I could get out of him was that he wasn’t surprised.”

“He knew your dad was going to tell you he was dating when you came to dinner that first night.”

“He did? God, that kid is smart. I didn’t see that one coming. A happy surprise, thankfully.”

Beckett remained silent and Gia held her tongue. Sooner or later he’d either have to get used to his mother dating her father, or blow up and spill his guts on why he disapproved.

The tree-lined drive opened up to reveal a sprawling lodge that spread out on the lake’s edge. Its cedar shingles and heavy navy shutters gave it a classic New England look. Beckett pulled into the gravel parking lot cordoned off with a split-rail fence next to the building.

“Wow,” Gia said, gripping her bag.

“I haven’t even taken my pants off, yet.”

Gia slapped Beckett on the arm. “Funny guy.”

“Let’s get you fed so I can take you home and find out what you have on under that dress,” Beckett said, his fingers tracing her thigh just under the hem.

“Just consider it dessert,” she said, leaning closer and licking her lips. She gave him her best sultry look.

“Evil woman,” Beckett said blowing out his breath and getting out of the driver’s seat.

They were seated immediately in a cozy corner near a crackling fireplace. Their table offered a view of the moonlight as it sparkled on the lake’s dark waters.

“Very, very nice, Beckett,” Gia said after the server, a young man with a slight French accent, took their drink order.

Beckett took her hands on the crisp white linen tablecloth. “I’m glad you approve.”

“You’re very good at dating, aren’t you?” Gia said, raising an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you?”

“I’m not sure if I’ve ever been on an actual date. Certainly nothing like this,” she said admiring the room. The dining room was a wash of white walls and tall windows. The fireplace that warmed Gia’s back was clad in a rustic, local stone. Aged oak floors washed in a light gray carried from the foyer all the way through to the patio doors facing the lake.

Candle flames flickered on every table.

“Then your previous partners were sadly lacking,” Beckett told her.

“You may be right,” she agreed.

When he looked at her, Gia felt like he was looking into her. Probing every dark corner for secrets. There was so much behind those smoldering eyes.

“What?” she asked, when his face turned serious.

“You deserve better.”

“That’s why I’m here,” she said lightly.

The waiter returned with their wine and recited the night’s specials. After an internal debate about which entrée would be most conducive to their after-dinner plans, Gia selected the corn chowder and grilled salmon. Beckett went with red meat.

They sipped and chatted, flirted and teased. Both enjoying the simple traditions of the time-honored date.