I looked at the outfit in the mirror, turning left then right to find the perfect angle that would be the ‘that’s the one’ moment for tonight. When it didn’t happen, I pulled the dress over my head and placed my hands on my hips, frustrated. I had no idea what to wear on my date with Benji. I wanted to be the perfect package: sexy but not slutty, confident but not too over the top coy. Nothing in my closet seemed to be speaking on any of those levels. Go figure.

With a sigh, I turned back to the closet and pulled out the next dress, a short number with the tags still attached. Lord knows when I actually had purchased the darn thing, but as I slid it on, I had that light bulb moment. It was nearly perfect; the deep green color a perfect complement to my skin. The dress itself was not too short and hugged me in all the right places. Whatever I had bought it for must have been something special.

I rooted around in the closet until I found a pair of strappy sandals, sliding them on my feet before giving myself another look in the mirror. Hell yes. I felt like I should be going out with a hot guy tonight. So why was my stomach all in knots about this dinner date with Benji? Was it because I hadn’t dated anyone since my divorce? Was it because I was scared to death that this could become something I wasn’t totally prepared for? It was all of them rolled into a tight little ball in my chest. Benji was the first guy that I had even remotely thought about in any other way that wasn’t friendly or professional. Working in a largely male dominated profession, I had been around enough males to have the fluttering of attraction with any of them, but none had caught my eye or my hormones like he had. Would it be the same if Amelia was not in the picture? Probably not but I would like to think so anyway.

My cell rang, and I picked it up, pushing the send button. “What’s up big brother?”

“What are you doing?” Luke said into the phone.

I pursed my lips, knowing there was no way I was going to tell my brother that I was about go out on a date with his former best friend. “I, er, I am going to the movies with some girlfriends. What’s up?”

“I can’t call my sister just for the heck of it?” Luke asked. “I’m just checking in, seeing if you have shot up any bad guys yet.”

I rolled my eyes. My brother thought I had this great job as a police officer, patrolling the streets looking for bad guys when in reality, I checked their paperwork in. I had explained it to him dozens of times, but he still liked to tease me about it. “How’s the desk job? Where are you at now?”

Luke was a programming techy for some big corporation and traveled all over the world. I never could keep up with where he was at when we did talk. We weren’t extremely close, but he was still my brother, and I was very proud of what he had become. “I’m in London,” he finally said. “Is everything okay Dannie?”

“I’m fine,” I said a little too quickly. “Just busy at work.”

“Good,” Luke replied. “I gotta go. Be safe. Love you.”

“Love you,” I replied before he hung up. Throwing the phone on the bed, I burst out into laughter. Luke would kill Benji and me if he knew what I was up to. He had been there when I needed him the most with my former life, comforting me as my world fell apart and I was forever grateful for his strength and love.

But he would kill me now.

Glancing over at the clock, I swore under my breath, and I grabbed my purse and hurried out of my apartment, worried that I was going to be late. Instead of having him pick me up, I had texted him to let me meet him there. It wasn’t that I was scared of him seeing where I lived, but more so that I wasn’t ready to have a man, even Benji, in my apartment yet. That was still my domain, with no trace of what my past life had been like before coming to Chicago. I wasn’t ready to give that up yet.

Flagging down a taxi, something I rarely did, I gave the driver the name of the restaurant downtown and sat back as he pulled away from the curb. I knew the restaurant, though the exorbitant prices had been enough to make me never attempt to try their food. It was definitely the type of place that my dress would fit in, or at least I hoped so anyway.

Steeling against the nervousness that threatened to take over, I wiped my damp palms on the fabric as the taxi pulled over to the curb, signaling my arrival. There was no backing out once I stepped out of this car. I knew that. I pulled out the fare and climbed out of the taxi, spying Benji near the entrance. At least he was punctual. He was also so good looking that he was hurting my eyes, wearing a pair of dress pants and one of those white dress shirts with the collar left unbuttoned, looking like he had just stepped out of one of those GQ magazines. Holy Hannah, he was hot.

He turned toward me, and I gave him a little wave, watching as a grin spread across his gorgeous face. “Hey, you came.”

“Get stood up often?” I teased as I walked over to him. He laughed, and I felt some of the nervousness leave my body. I could do this. This was Benji, not some random stranger I was having dinner with.

“Not often,” he said, opening the door. “Hungry?”

“Starving,” I answered as we stepped into the dimly lit interior. “This isn’t one of those places that give you those spoon tastings of a meal, is it?”

“God I hope not,” he said into my ear, causing a delicious shiver to snake down my spine. “Or we will be eating at the burger shack before the end of the night.”

I wanted to tell him that I was game for that but the maître de decided to arrive at the very same moment and took us to a small table in a cozy corner, lit by the dim lighting in the restaurant and the candle on the linen covered table.

“May I start you off with a glass of wine perhaps?” he started as he handed us both menus. “We have a nice chardonnay.”

“No thank you,” I said politely as I tried not to fall out of the chair from the prices that were listed beside the dishes. Good lord that was nearly the amount of money I used for my power bill each month. Okay maybe that was an exaggeration, but it was a heck of a lot to pay for chicken.

“That will be fine,” Benji said instead. “Just bring the bottle.”

I looked at him over the top of my menu as the man scurried away. “You do realize you just ordered a fifty-dollar bottle of wine, right?”

His grin was infectious. “Would you rather have had the two hundred dollar one then?”

I nearly choked, my eyes going back to the menu. “What’s in it? Gold leaf?” Wow, now that was a power bill.

“This is my treat,” Benji said as I looked for something that didn’t cost an arm or a leg. Or both. “Order whatever you like.”

My eyes went to his face again, arching a brow. “If I was a petty person, I would order one of each.”

He winced, looking down at the menu. “Well, then I hope you would be hungry. They would have to throw in a room or something in my honor if you did that.”

I laughed. “Good thing I’m not planning to do that.”

He laid down his menu and looked at me, a half smile on his lips. “Do you want to go somewhere else, Danielle?”

I bit my lower lip and laid down my menu as well. “Do you mind? I mean, this was really nice Benji, but I just.”

He held up his hand, throwing a few bills on the table as he did. “Say no more.”

I felt stupid as he stood and reached for my hand, helping me to my feet. “I’m sorry,” I said lamely as we walked out of the restaurant.

He turned and gave me a wink. “Don’t be. That place was crazy expensive to begin with. I was just trying to impress you.”

“A fat cheeseburger and a beer does the same thing,” I said jokingly. “And you have no need to impress me.”

Benji extended his arm, and I slid my arm through his, resting my fingers on his muscular forearm. “Well, you did help me out big time the other day. I figured that was probably your rate.”

“It was a pleasure,” I said honestly as we started down the street, feeling a little more at ease. “How is Amelia?”

“She’s great,” he said, pride in his voice. “I still can’t believe that she’s mine you know? I mean, I can’t imagine my life without her now, but damn, I never pictured myself as a dad.”

“Well you are doing really good with it,” I told him as we walked into one of my favorite hole in the wall joints. “I mean with the idea of course.”

We found a table near the back, and despite our fancier attire, I couldn’t help but let out a relieved breath that I was somewhere I could relax. Benji made quick work of his sleeves as two beers were plunked in front of us before we could ask, one of the regular waitresses giving me a wave as she walked past. “Thanks,” I called after her before grabbing the mug and taking a long swallow.

“Familiar around here?” Benji asked as he did the same.

I set my mug down and gave him a smile. “When I was on the beat, this was my route. I spent many a lunch in here.”

“I still can’t believe you are a cop,” Benji said with a shake of his head. “How the fuck did you pick that?”

I shrugged, not wishing to spill my business to him yet. “I don’t know. I weighed all my options, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“What did Luke say?” he asked, drinking his beer. “I bet he hit the fucking roof.”

I shook my head, thinking of how my brother did react when he had found out. “He took it pretty well.” After all, he could see how devastated I was over my daughter’s death and subsequent dissolving of my marriage. “Look at you, Mr. prize fighter. Talk about making it.”