Sugar was trying to act like she wasn’t freaking out right now, but the truth was she was a nervous wreck. She had Poppy on a leash, the little Pomeranian trailing behind as she made her way toward Colton, the little bell on her collar dinging.

She’d seen him down the street as she looked out her window. Of course she could have waited for him to come up, to see where she actually lived, but she’d been too antsy.

The meeting had gone better than she could have imagined, and it had nothing to do with their companies working on the merger. Although she knew he’d been upset, that anger hadn’t lasted long. Sugar almost felt he should have been more upset because that’s how she was with herself.

She should have told him sooner, and especially not how it had gone down.

“Hey,” he said in that deep drawl of his.

“Hey yourself.” She was trying to act like she wasn’t on edge, hiding the fact her hands shook and her heart raced.

“You want to choose dinner, or should I?”

She felt herself relax a little. It was easy being in his presence. “I know this little bistro a few blocks over. It’s dog friendly and the food is incredible.”

“Sounds good.” He grinned, flashing straight white teeth and having her heart flutter. “Lead the way.”

They walked in silence for a little while, this weirdness moving between them, or maybe it was all her? Colton seemed like he didn’t have a care in the world as he walked beside her gently humming. Maybe she was ruining tonight because she still felt so uncomfortable about lying to him.

She found herself stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and turning to face him. He lifted an eyebrow and smiled, maybe knowing where she was going to go with this.

“Listen, I want to apologize for how everything played out.” She glanced away and licked her lips, wanting to word this right but knowing it just needed to be said. Lifting her head, she stared at him again. “I should’ve been honest with you as soon as I realized who you were, as soon as I saw your name on that business card. I guess at first I was dumbstruck by it all, and then afterword I didn’t want to ruin anything.”

“Ruin anything?” The tone of his voice told her that he found humor in the situation.

Here she was stuttering out her words, nervous beyond belief, and he was grinning at her like a fool.

“Yeah, whatever this is between us.” She lifted her hand and moved it between them, just trying to say what she meant even though she didn’t know what the hell she was trying to spit out. “It’s just we were getting along, I was helping out with Boscoe, and I figured that since time already passed, it didn’t matter, that whenever I brought it up it would still look bad. I would still look bad.”

“Sugar, I’m a firm believer in water under the bridge.” He smiled genuinely. “I don’t want to dwell on this and I don’t want you to either. Do I wish you would have been honest with me? Yeah, of course, but I see where you were coming from. You were afraid. Hell, if I had been in your shoes I probably would have kept it to myself as well.”

And just like that she felt the stress of all of this leave her. “Really? You’re okay with all of this?”

“I’m more than okay.” And then he lifted his hand and brushed his finger on her cheek.

Chills raced up her spine and she felt arousal take a strong hold. She wanted Colton. There was no doubt about that.

“Come on, let’s get something and start over.”

She stared at his face. God, she could get lost in his eyes. “I’d like that.”

He grinned wider. “Let’s get to know each other.” He took a step closer. “I really want that with you, Sugar.”