A minute later, Sadie watched Caleb and Lollipop walk out of the shop heading for the pub.

He wanted to date her.

Before she could obsess over that too much, her client called and canceled on her. She didn’t know if she was bummed or relieved and grabbed her purse.

“Running away from home?” Rocco asked mildly.

“I should,” she said pointedly, but he just smiled, unrepentant.

“He’d be good for you,” he said.

Rolling her eyes, she left work and stopped at a table set up in the courtyard where a Girl Scout troop was selling cookies. In her opinion, there were five seasons: winter, Girl Scout Cookie season, spring, summer, and fall. So she searched her purse and managed to come up with ten bucks to buy two emergency boxes. Some might call eating two boxes of cookies on her own a cry for help. Sadie called it supporting young female entrepreneurs.

She opened a box and helped herself as she thought about Caleb. She’d spent a lot of time avoiding dating. That she was possibly considering jumping back in felt a little too much like her old world to her. The world where she’d been nothing to anyone, not tethered nor tied, not fitting in anywhere . . . And that had almost killed her. She picked up her phone and texted her friends: 9–1–1 .

Not five minutes later, Ivy, Willa, and Molly met her at the fountain in the courtyard. Sadie explained the situation, trying not to freak out. “I mean what’s he thinking?” she asked. “A date? With me? Is he insane?”

“I don’t get the problem,” Molly said. “He asked you out. It’s sweet. You should go. I bet he takes you somewhere really nice and you can get dressed to kill and drive him crazy all night.”

Willa nodded. “And aren’t you dying to see what he looks like beneath those sexy suits?”

Sadie bit her lip because she had seen what he looked like beneath those sexy suits.

Except . . . not really. It’d been pretty dark, and so cold they’d left on a lot layers. It’d been more of a braille situation, though her fingers and tongue knew their way around his body pretty well . . .

Ivy caught her expression and went brows up. She clearly recognized there was so much more to tell but was kind enough not to ask questions with an audience.

“I know I’m with Lucas and all,” Molly said. “And I’m crazy in love. But I’ve worked out with Caleb, and you should know, he’s holy-cow hot.”

This was something Sadie already knew.

“And best yet,” Molly went on, “for being rich and kind of famous, he’s a good guy, just really . . . normal.”

Actually, in Sadie’s book, “normal” was not a point in his favor. Wes had been textbook “normal.” But then he’d been cruel and tried to break her down.

No. Scratch that. She’d done that to herself. And she’d walked away from men for a bit. But a bit had turned into three years and it was entirely possible she was still broken. “I don’t trust my judgment,” she admitted.

The girls all looked at each other. Then Molly reached out and took Sadie’s hand. “I get that. There was a time when that was true for me too.”

“How did you get over it?” Sadie asked.

“Went with my heart,” Molly said. “And trust me, I didn’t go quietly. Actually, I went kicking and screaming. But I went. And it’s been great, even if late last night we had to both get out of bed and measure it to make sure we were sleeping on equal sides of the mattress.”

“I had huge trust issues,” Willa told Sadie. “Keane was a huge risk for me, but now look at us . . .” She pulled out her phone. “He sends me pics of him doing household chores because he knows it turns me on.”

Everyone looked at a picture of Keane feather dusting the furniture with a come-hither sex kitten pose. The next shot was him in only a pair of jeans, riding the carpet cleaner like it was a bucking bronco.

“Wow,” Ivy said and they all murmured their agreement because it was true. The man looked good getting his clean on.

“I was pretty screwed up too,” Molly told Sadie. “But now I’m with Lucas, who turned out to be my best friend and soul mate. And trust me, if it worked out for us, then anyone can fall in love—” She broke off to read an incoming text. “Oh hell no. Eat my molten lava cake leftovers and die,” she muttered as she typed. “Sorry.” She set her phone aside. “That was Lucas. What was I saying?”

“That you’re with your best friend and soul mate,” Sadie said dryly. “You said that right before you threatened him with death.”

Willa smiled. “See? Marriage is great.”

Ivy turned to Sadie. “How about you go out with Caleb just for fun and see what happens?”

Spoken like a person who was as single as Sadie. But could it be that easy? Could she go out with Caleb for the simple attraction and not worry about anything else? She looked into Ivy’s sincere face, and then the others, who all nodded encouragingly. She blew out a breath and picked up her phone. She typed two words: Tomorrow night. And then a minute later got a response: You’re on .

“Oh shit,” she whispered.

“Brownie points to him for not playing coy and pretending he didn’t know what you were saying yes to,” Ivy said. “And nice label you gave him. Is it working?”

No. “Yes.”

“See?” Molly said. “He really is a good guy, Sadie.”

Sadie drew in a shaky breath and told herself to lock it down. She had twenty-four hours before she had to panic. She looked over at her friends, each of whom agreed that Caleb was a good guy.

All signs pointed to that being the truth. But whether it was bad experiences or maybe just her sheer stubbornness, she wasn’t quite ready to jump into the water yet. Which was dumb. She’d already slept with him. What did she have to feel worried about?

Her phone buzzed once more and everyone’s gaze went to her phone.

“Interesting name you gave him,” Ivy murmured.

But Sadie couldn’t concentrate on that. “Gym clothes?”

Molly grimaced. “Okay, so even good guys can be stupid.”

“We need to withhold judgment,” Ivy said calmly. “He might be doing a misdirect for Ms. Anxiety City over here.”

They all looked at Sadie.

“I’m not anxious!” she said. A big fat lie of course. She couldn’t get enough air into her lungs, her face was overheated, and she was squirming. She never squirmed. “Oh my God, this is ridiculous. I should cancel—” She reached for her phone but Ivy snatched it first.

“You can do this,” she said very kindly and very gently. “You’re a big girl.”

“A big girl wouldn’t be flop sweating in some very uncomfortable places,” Sadie said.

Ivy laughed and turned to the others. “A show of hands on whether or not she should go out with Caleb.”

Everyone raised their hands.

Sadie felt like an idiot. But a cared-for idiot. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

Everyone scattered after that to get back to work. Alone, Sadie eyed the fountain. She didn’t have any extra change to toss in and make a wish—which didn’t matter because even if she did, she wouldn’t wish on love.

Or would she . . . ?

“Fine,” she admitted to the water. “I’d be tempted if I thought you were real.”

A coin flew over her shoulder and hit the water with a plop.

“There you go, sugar.”

Sadie whipped around and stared in horror at Old Man Eddie standing there in his tie-dyed Summer Love sweatshirt, hood up over hair that stood straight up, hands in his pockets, looking quite pleased with himself.

“What did you just do?” she asked.

He smiled.

“No.” She pointed at him. “Take it back.”

“Take what back?”

“The wish you made for me. The wish for love. I don’t want it.”

“What does it matter if you don’t believe?” he asked.

She stared at him. “Dammit.”

“Hear you’re going on a date,” he said.

“Oh my God. This entire building is a loony bin. I need to change jobs.”

Eddie just grinned. “Nah. You fit here. And you don’t need to talk to the fountain anymore, your wish is made now. It no longer matters whether you believe in love or not, it’s going to find you.”

Her heart kicked hard. “No offense,” she said. “But that sounds more like a threat to me than a promise.”

Eddie just rocked back on his heels with a smile. “Don’t worry—”

“If you end that sentence with ‘be happy,’ I might have to hurt you,” she said.

He laughed. “I’m a lover, not a fighter. And you know what? I think you are too.”

“No way. I’d rather fight than love any day of the week.”

“Well, technically speaking,” he said, “some things are worth fighting for. Love is most definitely one of those things.”

His words stuck with her all through the night and the next day, through going home from work and attempting to get ready for the date with a man she realized she liked way too much. It put a lot of pressure on the “date,” one that she was sure she would manage to mess up.

Caleb knocked on Sadie’s door, not quite sure what to expect. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she bailed, but she opened the door and Lollipop lost her ever-loving mind at the realization she had both of her people in the same spot at the same time. She literally bounced back and forth between them until Caleb squatted to stroke some calm into her.

The dog immediately rolled over for a belly rub and Caleb’s heart rolled over as well. As surely as he’d fallen for the two-legged female in front of him, he felt the same for the three-legged one at his feet. But only one of his women was wagging their tail, thrilled to see him.

The other needed time and, he suspected, patience. Good thing he had both in spades. Slowly he stood, taking in the sight of Sadie. She wore an incredibly sexy little black dress that showed off her curves in a way that had his mouth watering. And then there were the high-heeled black leather boots that climbed up her long legs, ending above her knees and a good hand span below the short hem of her dead sexy dress. Her makeup was soft and sultry and seemed to match the dress and boots for high-volume shock value.

The sight of her literally took his breath.

She smiled when he didn’t say a word. “I know you said gym clothes, and I’ve got them ready to go. The dress is Ivy’s idea. She texted a bit ago, suggesting I render you speechless from the get-go in order to take control. So I dug through my closet for a dress worthy of the mission.”

Caleb looked her over again from head to toe and shook his head. He was definitely speechless, and she was the hottest thing he’d ever seen. Liking her tactic and the reason behind it, he smiled and nudged her back so he could move inside. There he kicked her door shut and then pressed her up against it, cupping her face.

Sucking in a breath, her eyes dilated with excitement.

She liked his move.

So he gave her another. He got up close and personal, letting his body speak for him.

“Oh,” she breathed, at the perfect height in those heels to arch into him and line them up perfectly. “You’re happy to see me,” she murmured and settled her gaze on his mouth, biting her lower lip.

She wanted him to kiss her.

He wanted that too, possibly more than he wanted his next breath, but they were going out on a date first if it killed him. He wasn’t exactly sure why it was so important for him to do this, but he wanted to . . . well, woo her, he supposed. He wanted to show her there was more between them besides the off-the-charts sexual attraction.

From the moment she’d said yes to this date, he’d known something she hadn’t, that tonight he was going to reveal himself to her in a way he never would have if she’d refused to go out with him. Lowering his head, he brought his mouth to within a fraction of hers. “Sadie . . .”

Her eyes drifted closed and her fingers slid into his hair. “Yeah?”

“You didn’t need the dress to be the one in control here. One look—Hell, one smartass remark from you and I’m a puddle at your feet.”

She stared up at him. “You shouldn’t tell me such things. I could take advantage.”

“Please do,” he said, smiling when she rolled her eyes. “And Sadie?”

“Yeah?”

He pressed into her a little more, wanting to see her eyes go opaque with lust for him the way they had the other night. “We’re going to do this . . .”

“Yes,” she breathed, nodding, tightening her grip.

“And it’s going to be good.”

“I know.” She tried to get a piece of that “good” right now but he pulled back and took her hand, opening the front door again.

Her eyes flew open. “What the—?”

“Date first.”

She stared at him. “So you were just teasing me to, what, drive me wild with lust?”

“Did it work?”

“No.”

He could see her nipples trying to cut through her dress. “Liar.”

She looked down at his obvious erection.

“Hey, I’m not even going to try to deny what you do to me,” he said, and though he was still smiling, he was dead serious.

Her eyes were too. “So a date,” she said. “And then . . . ?”

“Most definitely and then.”

She nodded and walked out the door ahead of him, giving him a peek at the nonexistent back of her dress and he groaned. “It’s going to be a long night.”

“Your own fault,” she said and sashayed that sweet ass down the hall.