The dinner had been lovely…for all of about one minute.

They were at Lupe Tortilla, one of her favorite restaurants. Carter had let her pick the place. He had picked her up at her house. He had met her parents. He had even opened the car door for her. He had brought flowers for heaven’s sake!

The trip downhill had started with the sudden silence as soon as they were seated in the middle of the restaurant. The stares. The smiles. The whispers. The intrusions.

Jordan had ordered a margarita. A large margarita.

“So Ben is a great kid,” Carter said. It was the right foot to start on. The one thing they actually had in common was the fact that they both liked Ben.

“Yeah, he had a really good time last weekend. Thanks for that,” she said, taking a sip of the margarita once it finally arrived.

“No problem. I can see why you went to so much trouble for him, getting that ball.”

He smirked, and she just averted her eyes, both of them remembering the incident.

She took another sip.

“Hey, great game today!”

It was a couple. The guy actually reached out to pat Carter Fox on the back. The woman just stared at him, cast a quick, curious glance to Jordan, then back to Carter Fox.

Jordan took another long sip.

“Thanks,” said Carter, obviously used to such intrusions.

They walked off.

The waiter came. A boisterous focus on Carter Fox. “Can I take your order?”

They paused to give their food orders and then Carter brought his full attention back to her.

“So you’re not a baseball fan?” Carter asked, giving her a grin.

“Sorry, it’s boring,” she confessed.

“I think once you understand the stats, it’s actually pretty interesting.”

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but would you mind if my son got a picture with you?”

A dad. A dad with a tow-headed, snaggletoothed son who couldn’t have been older than six. Carter looked in her direction questioningly.

How could she possibly refuse? She smiled, giving a shrug in acquiescence, then took another sip of her margarita as she was patently ignored.

She watched his large arm envelope the minuscule, preadolescent shoulders. A flash. A gleeful jumping up and down on the boy’s part. A shake of the hand between two men.

Jordan took another sip of margarita.

So this is what it was like to date Carter Fox.

“Where were we?” he asked, ever the gentleman.

But it was too late. The momentum had begun.

“Do you think we could get a shot with you as well?”

“Actually, folks—” Carter began, giving them an apologetic look.

“Of course you can,” Jordan interrupted. This time it was not one, but two kids. A once in a lifetime chance for them, and she wasn’t about to ruin it with her silly date. Baseball talk could wait. The smiles on their faces made it worthwhile.

Carter just gave her a half smile then went through the motions all over again, making sure to tousle the heads of the two boys afterward, making them laugh.

At the very least, it was one of the more interesting dates she’d been on.

They were rescued by their meal.

Carter was the one to eventually put a stop to it all.

“Hey, I’d love to, but I’m actually here with a date, and we’d really like to just enjoy our meal. Sorry folks.”

This time it was a double date that didn’t look too happy. Especially the two leggy brunettes who gave Jordan the what-has-she-got-that-we-don’t look. She didn’t feel so bad about this one.

By then, Jordan had finished her margarita. It was definitely time for another one.

“So we are now third in our regional division. There are three divisions, East, Central, and West. The Sluggers are West, in the National League.” They were finishing up their meal, mostly in peace.

Jordan nodded along, barely grasping his words.

He gave her a thoughtful look and smiled. “You aren’t absorbing any of this are you?”

She smiled into her second margarita. “Sorry, Ben’s the one you want here not me.”

“One of these days, you’ll appreciate it,” he said, taking a bite of his carne asada. “Sorry about tonight. I guess we haven’t really had a chance to actually talk.”

“I probably should have known better,” Jordan said shrugging with a smile. “All the same, it’s been…well, it’s been an experience. At least I have something to talk about when I go back to law school.”

He looked at her a moment longer, as though considering something. “Actually, I have an idea.”

Jordan’s eyes got wide with curiosity. Were they not done here? Had he not fulfilled his obligatory date duties?

“I barely got a chance to talk to you tonight,” he said in answer to the unspoken question. “If you think I’m letting you get away this fast, you’re sorely mistaken.”

It made her smile into the last of her margarita.