Tinley’s hands shake as applies her eyeliner. She doesn’t know why she’s so nervous. Sure, she had some nerves before the speed dating event and again the night when she and Marek finally saw each other face to face, but this is different. They’ve already been dating, albeit in secret, so what makes tonight so special? She ignores that little voice inside her head that tells her it’s actually real now and that’s why she’s tense. She finishes off her makeup and gives herself one last look in the mirror when her phone goes off.

The butterflies within her start turning into bats at the excitement. When Marek mentioned taking her on a real date, he wanted to do the whole nine yards including picking her up at her front door, but with Dakota around, that wouldn’t have worked out. So, he agreed to wait in the parking lot for her. She peeks out of her bedroom door and hears her roommate talking on the phone in her bedroom. With her heels in hand, she makes a mad dash for the front door. Shutting it behind her, she puts her shoes on and makes her way over to her waiting date.

“Wow, you look amazing.”

Her entire neck and face get hot, and she can imagine the redness building up in her skin. The look on his face alone is enough to make her drop her clothes right here in the parking lot, but they have a date to go on, and she’s not about to ruin that. “Thank you. You look pretty incredible yourself.”

And he absolutely does. She can’t deny how turned on she is right now. He’s got on a pair of nice black slacks and a button-up shirt. Just like the day she saw him with her sister, he has the sleeves rolled up, showing off those forearms in all their glory. She’s tempted to run her hand along his arms but refrains from actually doing so. Might be taking it a little too far.

“So where are you taking me on this ‘real date’?”

“Now if I tell you that, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”

“Marek Outlaw, are you getting romantic on me?”

His cheeks turn red, and she can honestly say she’s never seen him embarrassed or blush before; she finds it very attractive. She leans over and places her hand on his cheek then pulls his face toward her. Her lips slide against his and just as quickly as she placed them, she pulls away.

“What was that for?”

“For being you.”

She reaches down and tangles her hand with his own as they start walking toward his waiting vehicle. It’s freshly washed on the outside, and when he opens the door to let her in, she notices the inside is equally as clean. He definitely went all out for this one. She smiles as he runs around the front of the car to get in on the driver’s side. They haven’t even left her apartment complex parking lot and already this has been the best date she’s ever been on.

He hops in and takes off. With how secretive he was being, she half expected him to put a blindfold on her, but she’s happy he didn’t actually do that. As they’re driving down the highway, he pulls her hand into his own and brings it up to his lips for a gentle kiss. He then lays it on the center console and doesn’t let go. The simple things like that are absolutely perfect to her.

When they pull up to the valet outside the restaurant, she is completely shocked by where he’s taking her. “Oh my gosh, how did you get a reservation here? They’re always booked months in advance.”

He offers a sly smile and says, “I have my ways.”

As cheesy as it sounds, she feels like a princess being completely swept off her feet by a prince, and the sweeping is going way better than she ever could have imagined. The host leads them to a private table near the back of the restaurant. It’s completely sectioned off in its own little room, and the music playing drowns out the noise from outside. There’s already a bottle of wine chilling in a bucket next to their table and a basket of bread sitting in the middle. The host announces that the waiter will be in shortly with their first dish and exits the room.

Tinley’s eyes are wide at all the opulence of their date, and she demands answers. “Seriously, what is going on here? How did you make all of this possible?”

He shrugs and simply asks, “Truth?”

She nods her head vigorously, eager for an answer.

“I own part of the restaurant.” Her eyes go wide, but before she can ask anything, he continues. “One of my friends from college owns Big House Bookstore. It didn’t always have the bar in the back, and when he got the idea to create it, he couldn’t get a small business loan. I offered a chunk of my savings to him and became an investor. I don’t have anything to do with the actual operations, but I receive a modest check every month. When business over there became profitable, he decided to step up his game and open this restaurant. Even though he didn’t need the money this time around, he asked if I wanted a piece of the pie and I invested again.”

She sits on that information for a bit and is completely shocked. If he’s made such incredible business decisions, why does he stay at the call center? “I just have one question for you.”

“Why don’t I quit my job?”

She nods and laughs. Either he already knows her really well, or it was a predictable question—probably a little bit of both.

“I like the stability of the regular income. I rely on what I make from the call center to pay for all my everyday expenses. All the bar and restaurant money goes into savings for a college fund.” He picks up the water glass in front of him and takes a drink.

“So you want to have kids someday?”

He chokes on the water in his mouth, and his eyes go wide. “Yeah, don’t you?”

“I used to think I didn’t, but I think that had more to do with not being in a relationship with anyone more than anything else. Now the idea is starting to grow on me.”

There’s a lull in the conversation as the waiter brings plate after plate of delicious food. Tinley can’t remember the last time she had such a good meal, and afterward, she is stuffed. She can barely move, but she doesn’t regret a minute of it. In fact, she would go back in time just to savor and enjoy every single bite again.

Marek comes around to her side of the table and slides her chair out to help her up. He brings her hand up to his mouth, and gives her a gentle kiss before leading her outside of the restaurant. She starts walking toward the valet and with a gentle tug he leads her away toward a park across the street. It’s a little chilly outside but not incredibly unbearable, but she has to ask him anyway.

“Are we going for a walk?”

He smiles down at her and says, “Have a little patience. You’ll see soon enough?”

“You mean the dinner wasn’t our entire date? What else could you have planned?”

Marek continues smiling which does nothing but drive up Tinley’s anxiety. She has no idea what else could be going on when they suddenly stop walking. And there, right in front of them is a freaking horse-drawn carriage. Including a blanket and a chilling bottle of wine. How the heck did she win the boyfriend jackpot?

Her mouth drops open as he drags her over to the carriage. “Are you kidding me right now? How is it possible that you just took the most perfect date I’ve ever been on and escalated it to ultimate level? Sorry for the cliché, but is this real life right now?”

He leans down and gives her a gentle kiss on the lips and asks, “So I did good?”

All she can do is nod her head as he helps her into the carriage. They snuggle together underneath the blanket and he hands her a glass of wine. Perfection. That is the only word she can think of to describe this date. Absolutely perfection.

She turns toward him and smiles. “Thank you so much for the most perfect night I’ve ever had. I would never have guessed you were a secret romantic inside.”

“It’s not really a secret, I’ve just never been in a relationship with someone I could spoil before now.”

“Are you trying to make me fall in love with you?”

“Is it working?”

“Possibly. The jury is still out on that one.”

He leans over and pulls her in for a kiss. She one hundred percent lied because she knows with all her heart she has already fallen head over heels in love with this man.