I'm relieved that my first meeting with my future husband is a standard dinner date at a run of the mill steak house somewhere in Durango, Colorado.

According to Raven, Nathan actually lives about an hour and a half away but Raven tells me he lives in a very small community and she wanted us to meet on neutral ground.

That's fine with me. The flight out here was stressful enough; not only am I here to meet a man I've never even text messaged just for formality before we get married, but the only person I have to fly out with me and act as my chaperon happens to the be the woman I paid to find me a husband.

I'm about to come unhinged and Raven is cool as a cucumber, acting like she does this every day.

She does do this everyday, I remind myself as I follow her into the restaurant.

While I'm trying to remember how to walk and breathe at the same time, I can hear Raven's enthusiastic voice as a tall man comes out of the restaurant lobby to greet her.

I'm still a few feet from them and I stop dead in my tracks when I see the man giving Raven a friendly hug.

That can't be him. My feet refuse to move, my mind scrambles to remember who's supposed to be here tonight. What other man might be here that would know Raven?

I stand in the middle of the sidewalk and a family of people just leaving have to part to walk around me but it's like I can either stare at the guy holding the door open for a couple of older ladies as they head inside, or I can turn around and make a run for it. I can't do both and my feet are stuck in place while my brain tries to decide which way to go.

The man in question talks casually with Raven as they wait for me to catch up.

Oh God, they're looking at me. It occurs to me that I probably look like an idiot standing here, rooted to the spot. Quickly looking for an excuse to have come to a complete stand-still, I rummage through my purse as if I'm looking for something-- something I desperately need right. this. minute.

My courage maybe?

I never expected my new husband would be so-- hot. I try to get a grip on my nerves as I sift through my purse in search of...something...ooh! lip gloss. That'll work. I know I'm nervous, but I'm still surprised at how bad my hand is shaking as I lift the tube out of my bag and uncap it.

This can't be right, I think as I straighten my back and try to casually apply a fresh coat of gloss while keenly aware that my dinner companions are patiently waiting for me to join them. I told Raven I just wanted a husband for the companionship. From the description Raven gave me on our flight out here, I was expecting an older man and-- I look back at the man standing beside Raven a few yards away from me-- Nathan is older. Than me. But he's a far cry from what I had pictured.

Dropping the gloss back into my bag, I smooth my skirt and square my shoulders, doing my best to look like this was a totally intentional, last minute self-check and not the complete bumbling panic attack that has me fighting the urge to turn around and run with each step that I force my feet to take closer to the steak house door.

Nathan-- if that's who the man really is-- is tall. He towers over Raven by a full head and Raven is a few inches taller than I am, and she's wearing heels.

She's also watching me with a quirk to the corners of her lips like she knows exactly what's going through my mind. If she was one of my girlfriends, I'd accuse her of doing this to me on purpose just to watch me squirm.

I'd also accuse her of setting me up for failure because there is no way a guy like the one I'm looking at right now is going to be satisfied with the likes of me.

"Sorry," I mumble as I join my party, "I just uh--" have no excuse whatsoever for having just frozen in mid step on the sidewalk and making them wait for me.

Fortunately, Raven saves me from whatever lame excuse I'm about to make up, "Tiffany," she says my name purposefully, "this is Nathan." She steps sideways, closer to the restaurant door and gestures at the man beside her who holds his hand out to shake mine.

My stomach falls into my shoes at the confirmation of my suspicion. I feel my pulse pick up to a pace I'm not sure is healthy as I bring my eyes up to meet his. My hand feels like it weighs a ton but I force it up to take his.

Nathan must be 6 foot 4 or so. He has wide shoulders and a broad chest that combine with his height to make an even more impressive image when you add in his confident posture.

"Hi." The simple syllable is uttered in a deep voice that vibrates through me but there's a nervous note in it that makes me feel better about my own trembling hand as I shake his quickly and then pull it away hoping he doesn't have time to notice.

"Did Helen come with you, Nate?" Raven's voice penetrates the fog that's settled over my brain and snaps me out of my thoughts.

Nathan's eyes break from mine, "She's at the bar," he says with a smirk that turns his already handsome face into something mischievous that makes me think...oh my. Um. No. I inwardly scold myself for the torrid thoughts running through my mind. That's not like me at all.

Clearing my throat, I unintentionally call attention to myself as my soon to be betrothed holds the door open to allow myself and Raven to walk into the lobby.

Now I'm squirming, uncomfortably aware of Nathan's presence beside me.

I expecting Raven to mention her no alcohol on the first date rule, make some disapproving face, or at least a "tsk tsk" at finding our other chaperon deep in the bowels of the steakhouse, seated at the U-shaped bar with a full liter mug of dark beer in her hand.

To my surprise, she's all smiles and warm greetings as the old lady's eyes light up with recognition and her arms wrap around Raven's neck.

"You're here!" Helen exclaims much more loudly than necessary, "And I missed the first impressions," she laughs when she sees me standing behind Raven with Nathan beside me, but she looks genuinely disappointed.

Helen is a familiar face and I finally feel myself relax a bit as she slides off her bar stool to give me the same greeting that Raven has barely managed to get herself out of.

"Oh girl!" She tells me while she hugs me, "It is so good to finally get to see you in person!" Helen abruptly releases me, steps back and grabs her beer off the bar, and gives me a long look up and down before her eyes dart toward Nathan, "So what do you think of our boy?" she asks with a wiggle of unkempt gray eyebrows.

Helen can only be described as a character. She's part of Nathan's team, along with his daughters, who have had the daunting task of deciding if I'm the right woman to become his next wife. She's got to be in her 80's, tiny at maybe 5' 1" and all of a 100 pounds or so, but there's nothing frail about the old woman. In fact, looking around the bar, I wouldn't be surprised if she can kick any man's ass in this place. Of course, I'd also expect her to fight dirty.

Before I can open my mouth to answer her with any of the polite responses that come to my mind, she has one arm around my waist, her beer firmly gripped in her other hand as she leads me across the floor behind Nathan and Raven as we're shown to our table.

"He's a sexy motherfucker, ain't he?" The blunt statement is whispered loudly next to my ear and even though nothing Helen says should catch me off guard by now, this does.

"Helen!" I laugh nervously and push her lightly with my shoulder.

"Oh pooh," she huffs, "you know it's true, look at you all blushing and stammering like a teenager." She holds me back for a second before she lets go of me so I can take a seat in the chair that Nathan is holding for me, " 'companionship' my ass, girl, you want that man."

I feel her hip crash against mine and I'm not at all surprised by the strength in her small body. She gives me a wink and a wicked grin with a shove toward Nathan and doesn't wait for him to push her chair in for her before she's seated at the table, whispering to Raven behind her upheld menu.

"Awkward, huh?"

I hear Nathan's deep baritone whispered in my direction.

Braving a glance at him over my own menu, our eyes dart to our companions and back to each other in a synchronized movement that feels like we've known each other much longer-- and much better-- than just the last few minutes.

"Just a little," I agree, feeling just a little bit more comfortable with him. At least we're in this together.