You can stop staring at yourself now. You look great already,” Carly says.

“Thanks.” For the ninety-sixth time in the past hour, I check my reflection in the mirror by the front door of the apartment. I’m wearing my favorite little black dress tonight. It’s both versatile and flattering. Not too formal or too casual.

“You look like you're trying to impress someone,” she says, looking at me through the mirror with one eyebrow raised.

“Ha-ha.” Normally, I’d come up with something wittier, but I don't have the energy to spare right now.

There's knocking on the door. One, two, three times.

Raphael is here.

“Ooh, he’s here!” Carly says excitedly. Grinning like the Cheshire cat, she practically skips toward the door before I can stop her.

“Hi!” Carly exclaims when she pulls the door open.

“Hi,” Raphael says tentatively. His deep, masculine voice makes my heart race. “I’m here to see Piper?”

“Yeah, she's just getting ready. Don't worry, you're in the right place.” Lowering her voice into a loud whisper, she adds, “She's been primping in front of the mirror for hours.”

Oh god. I can't believe she just said that. I glance at my red face in the mirror. I can't go out looking like this.

“Has she now?” Raphael asks. I can almost hear the smile in his teasing voice, and it only makes me want to see him even more.

“Oh, I’m Carly, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Carly. I'm—”

“Raphael. I know,” she says. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Good things, I hope?”

“Well… Some not-so-good things, but also some really good things.”

Okay, that's it. They're done talking.

“Hi, Rafe.” I smile at him as I pull the back of Carly’s shirt so she backs away from the doorway.

Damn, he looks hot.

I’ve seen him in a nice suit once: at his friend’s wedding. The rest of the time, he was usually wearing a T-shirt-and-jeans combo. Or, if I met him after work, he’d be wearing a creased business suit, without the tie and the jacket.

Tonight, he’s wearing T-shirt and jeans again, but with a structured navy-blue jacket. The long sleeves are rolled up, revealing his strong, brawny forearms.  

“Hi, princess,” he greets me with a panty-melting smile.

Carly gasps and opens her mouth, obviously about to say something about Raphael's nickname for me. I pinch her back to stop her, but it doesn't work. “Ouch, Piper. I just wanted to say how sweet that nickname is.”

I stay quiet and give Raphael a polite smile. He looks amazing, and my heart can’t stop thumping in my chest. I’m almost worried everybody can hear it.

I step outside. It's probably best to get away now before Carly says anything worse. “Let's go.”

“Okay. Nice to meet you, Carly,” Raphael says.

“Very nice to meet you, Raphael.” As we walk down the hallway, she yells out from the door. “Have fun, you guys!”

I quicken my pace. We take a couple of turns until we reach the elevator.

“She seems nice,” Raphael says.

“Yeah, she’s a good friend.”

“You look great.” He gazes at me longingly, like he wants to reach out and touch me, but knowing that it’s probably not a good idea. My chest tightens when I notice the sadness in his eyes.

I want to pull him into a hug and make him feel better, but I know better. I know I’m not ready for that.

“Thank you,” I say.

The elevator arrives and we get in. Silence rules as it takes us downstairs to where Raphael’s car must be waiting.

I don’t know what to say, and he doesn’t either. It would seem too fake to start talking about something light and not acknowledge the elephant in the room. At the same time, neither one of us is ready for the real talk. I don’t know if we’ll be ready by the end of the night.

Maybe we’ll have a meal and just go back home, without anything changing between us.

It’s possible he just wants closure. The thought that he might not want to be with me anymore fills my heart with fear, but I stay quiet.

“After you,” he says when we reach the ground floor and the elevator door opens. He holds the main door of the apartment building open for me, as well as his car door.

For all the things he lacks, gallantry isn’t one of them. I have to admit it feels nice to be treated like a lady. Mark never opened the door for me, or complimented me when I dressed up.

“So, I finally got you in my car, after two weeks of failed attempts,” he says as we cruise down the streets toward downtown San Francisco. The top of the car is down tonight, which is great, because I was worried the wind would mess up my carefully curled hair.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly have a choice, did I?” The words were supposed to sound light and playful, but they come out angrier than I wanted.

Raphael chuckles. “Actually, I never said you have to come to dinner with me. You can say no, just like you’ve been doing for the past two weeks.”

I think back to the phone call. To be fair, Dad never said the dinner was a requirement for stopping the foreclosure.

“So how do you like your new apartment?” Raphael asks.

“It’s only temporary.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I’m moving out as soon as I can.”

“Well, I happen to know one apartment that’s empty right now…” Raphael lets his words hang in the air.

“How do you like your new shoes?” I change the subject.

For the rest of the drive, we talk about unimportant things—my work, his work, my music, his family, and whatever we’re watching on Netflix right now.

I know we’re ignoring the subject that’s on both our minds, but I’m not ready to have that discussion. I don’t even know what I want yet.

It doesn’t take long for us to get the car parked and our asses seated at the restaurant, a nice place called The Local. Raphael has already made a reservation and chosen a spot by the window, where we have a nice view of the city. I order the item he recommends: the roasted rack of lamb.

“Remember the wedding we went to?” Raphael asks.

“Yes.” Of course I do. He slipped an engagement ring on my finger at the end of that night. I rub my naked ring finger, missing it. A real ring for our fake engagement.

“The bride used to work here, and she recommended this table and some of the stuff on the menu.”

“It’s a nice place.”

“Only the best for you, princess.”

The food comes, and we continue our light conversation. Raphael tells me about the couple from the wedding and the work that they do against human trafficking. Raphael used to help them out, back when he wasn’t as busy with work.

I want to pretend like we’re just on a nice date, although in the back of my mind I know we need to have a real talk. We’re going to. I fidget with my dress when the waiter comes to take away our entrée plates and place our desserts on the table.

I take a sip of the port wine. It still makes me feel so grown-up when I order alcohol at a restaurant. The waiter didn’t even ask for my ID.

“I’m glad you’re not angry at me anymore,” Raphael says with a small smile.

“Who says I’m not?” I return his smile.

“Okay, less angry, then. At least we can have a conversation. It’s an improvement, and I’ll take it.”

I stay quiet. I don’t know what to say. Maybe Carly’s right; maybe I’m being unfair. Raphael probably never meant to hurt me.

I feel bad about punishing him with my anger, although I never asked him to go through so much trouble for me. All I really wanted was to cut things off before they got any more serious, before he really broke my trust—and my heart, too.

“Again, I’m sorry about lying to you, Piper. I didn’t mean to hurt you. It was just something I came up with in the moment. I know that doesn’t excuse what I did, but I just… I need you to know that.”

“Yeah. I guess there was no way for you to have guessed that I’d react that way. I… My mom… I lost her to breast cancer.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Raphael says, gazing softly at me.

Those kind, green eyes make me want to give him everything he asks of me, but I’m still not sure that’s the best thing to do.

“In the interest of full disclosure, since this is the new, honest me, I should let you know that I already know that,” he says. “It was in the PI report, which I should also let you know, I didn’t order. It was ordered by someone else and shown to me.”

“Okay.” I’m not surprised. I already know that report exists, and I can’t really blame Raphael for that.

“And although it doesn’t help my case, I should also tell you that I went back and read the report when you moved out of the apartment. I thought it was going to help me find you.” Raphael chuckles to himself. “And this was before I realized I could just simply go to the mall and search for you there. So now you know I’m a snoop and an idiot.”

“You’re neither one of those things.” I smile. I have to admit, I prefer a snooping idiot to a liar, and I’m kind of liking this new Raphael.

“Now you’re the one lying to me,” he teases me.

And just like that, the air is cleared. We’re laughing together again, and we chat easily over our desserts. This is nice. Comfortable. Fun.

I don’t know if I’m ready for anything serious right this moment, and I’m glad he doesn’t try to push me in that direction. But I know I want to see him again.

We stay and chat until the restaurant turns off the music and dims the lights, subtly telling us to leave. Everybody else has.

By the time Raphael’s car pulls up in front of Carly’s apartment building, I still haven’t had enough of him. But I’m also not ready for more.

I can’t invite him up anyway; I don’t feel like I should do that as a guest who’s already inconveniencing Carly and George. And I’m not going to ask him to take me to his place, because I know I won’t be able to resist wanting to take things a few steps too far if he complied, which I know he would.

“Can I take you to dinner again?” Raphael turns to me. “Please don’t tell me this is the last time I’m ever going to see you.”

“Yeah, we can have dinner together again.” I meet his gaze and give him a smile. I can’t not see him again.

For one brilliant moment, it’s clear what we need to do. I don’t know who starts to move first—maybe we both do it at the same time—but we find ourselves in each other’s arms, eyes closed and lips locked.

His lips taste sweet, like wine and cake. It’s a soft, gentle kiss. Sensual, without being overly sexual. Tender.

When we pull away from each other, he’s wearing a big smile. God, I want to kiss that smile again, but he’d get a ticket if we stopped here for too long.

“Good night, Rafe.”

“Good night, princess. I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at the same time for dinner?”

I laugh. “I have work tomorrow. I can’t go to some fancy-pants place in my work clothes.”

“Who says we have to go to some fancy-pants place? We can go to McDonalds’ if that’s what you want. Unless you’re more of a KFC girl.”

“I guess we can meet at the mall food court after I get off work,” I say.

I can’t deny it. I want to see him again as soon as possible. Hell, I want to stay with him tonight, but that wouldn’t be wise. That’s where we went wrong the last time—we were going too fast. We should take our time.

“Deal,” he replies quickly.

“Do you even know what time I get off work?”

“Yeah.” He grins.

“How?”

“It’s a secret.”

“I thought you said this is the new, honest Raphael.”

“I am the new, honest Raphael. Keeping a secret and lying are two different things, aren’t they?” He smiles. “But okay, I’ll tell you. I bribed your co-worker to give me your work schedule.”

“Damn you, James,” I say in mock anger. I give Raphael a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” Raphael leans over to open the door for me, making my heart thump in my chest from how close he is. I could just move my hands a few inches and touch him.

But I stop myself. As I step outside into the cool night air, I remind myself I’ll see him again tomorrow.