The next few days at work were… strange. Blake was acting weird, looking guilty. As if he were responsible for his mother’s behavior. For my part, I could barely look at him without blushing. We’d barely started dating, and his mother had tried to set a wedding date for us.

“She meant well,” I told him for the third or fourth time on Wednesday at lunch. “She thinks we’re Zoe’s parents. It's natural for her to think we should be together.”

“It’s not natural for someone’s mother to book a wedding venue for two people who aren’t getting married.”

“She was just excited. Don’t be mad at her, Blake. And don’t worry about me. I get it. I’m not expecting you to get down on one knee unless Zoe drops her pacifier.”

“Which should be in about… forty-five seconds,” Blake said, pretending to look at his watch. But he looked relieved. Perhaps he thought I was some marriage-hungry woman who would overreact at the slightest mention of the “m” word.

“Your mother cares about you, that’s all.”

Blake nodded. “Funny how she went from not being much of a part of my life to overbearing in the space of a week. This little girl has that effect on people. Makes them want to be involved.” He said that while waiving a little rubber duck at Zoe, letting her almost catch it before pulling it away.

“Much better,” I said, since the last thing he’d tried to tease her with was a fork full of broccoli. She’d only sampled a handful of solid foods so far, and broccoli was not high on the list of foods to try next. I had my baby’s back.

We finished eating and I pulled Zoe onto my lap to nurse. Blake had gotten good at looking only at my face when I did that. It was an improvement. The first few times, he’d pretended to be fascinated by the kitchen appliances the whole time I fed my baby.

When I was finished, he walked me and Zoe back to the nursery. Once Zoe was in Pat’s arms—and once I’d escaped a little boy named Nate who clung to the leg of anyone who came into the room—we walked back.

“You’ve got a fan there. Twenty years from now, little Nate is going to date a woman that looks exactly like you.”

I laughed. “Maybe he’ll date Zoe.”

“Over my dead body,” Blake said with a possessiveness that warmed my heart. But then he grinned and gave a dismissive wave. “Besides, she can do better.”

“And I can’t?” Still laughing, I started to reach over and take his hand. At the last moment, I remembered where we were and resisted. Still, it had been close. Blake and I had kissed twice on the day of the picnic, but that had been two weeks ago. Things had been complicated ever since. I wondered when—or if—we were going to get things back on track.

Apparently, Blake was wondering that, too.

“So… if you’re free, can you work late with me on Friday?”

“Work? Late? Friday?” Wow. Way to make a complete sentence. I tried again. “How late?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. A couple of hours. I’ll order us some dinner. We can eat in the suite.”

Which is what we did every day for lunch, but the nighttime part made it sound different. More intimate. More like a date. We’d already had two nondate dates… was this the third? “Um, sure. I can ask if Jana can babysit.”

“Sounds good. Or if not, we could ask my mother.”

Startled I looked up into his eyes. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

“You know she’d love to do it.”

“Yeah… I just feel bad. Because she doesn’t know.”

“I know. Me too. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’d be thrilled to watch Zoe.”

She probably would. But it wasn’t right to ask her to do this. She deserved to know the truth. I wish I could make Blake see that.

“Just let me know” Blake said.

“Okay.”

* * *

“Sure,” Jana said when I called her that evening. “No problem. Got a hot date?”

“Maybe,” I said.

“Really? With Blake? This date number three. You know what that means.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s probably just another nondate. Like the first two.”

“Where’s he taking you?” Jana demanded.

“We’re just working late. In his office.”

“The office with the bedroom attached to it? Make sure you shave your legs.”

“Jana! It’s not like that,” I said, but truthfully, I’d already been planning to. Just in case.

“Here, someone wants to talk to you.”

Before I had time to wonder who, a familiar voice came on the line. “Hi dear.”

“Hazel! How are you?” Oh god, Jana had implied all that about me sleeping with Blake in front of Hazel?

“I’m fine. I’m getting out of here tomorrow night.”

“That’s great! I’ll bring Zoe over as soon as I can. But wait… doesn’t Jana need to be with you on Friday? I can find someone else to watch Zoe.”

“Don’t be silly, I’ll be fine. Or Jana can bring Zoe over here and watch us both.”

“I should be there.”

“No, Penny, you shouldn’t. You should be with Blake.”

“I still don’t know if it’s a date or not.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said firmly. “You owe it to yourself to find out. And be sure to shave your legs, dear.”

Blushing, I hung up the phone. As far as Hazel and Jana were concerned, the matter was settled. This was a date.

* * *

“Wow, you look nice,” Pat said when I walked into the nursery Friday afternoon.

“Thanks,” I said quietly. Zoe was sitting up in a crib by the wall, and I knew if she heard my voice, she’d start crying for me.

A little self-consciously, I smoothed my hands over the burgundy dress I was wearing. I’d borrowed it from Jana, and I’d worn a white sweater over it for most of the day. It was a little fancier than what I usually wore to work. I hoped that Blake would like it as much as Pat seemed to. “I just wanted to let you know that my friend Jana is coming to pick up Zoe today.”

“No problem,” Pat said, nodding at me to follow him as he opened the small office off the main room. “I’ll just need a little paperwork on that.”

“What kind?”

“Just documentation for Zoe’s file. No one can take her out of here unless you’ve added their name to a list and signed it. So only write down people you trust.”

I sat down at his desk and filled out the form, thinking about Pat’s words.

People I trusted. That was a short list.

* * *

My department was cleared out by five-thirty, but I waited until nearly six to knock on Blake’s door. I’d debated wearing the sweater over my dress. It was rather low-cut at the top, and the narrow sleeves left most of my arms bare. Pus, it was low in the back. But I’d put it on today thinking of him, which meant I should show it to him.

Blake’s door was closed, which was unusual, but I could see a little light coming from underneath the door.

I knocked again, the sound oddly formal in the dark hallway.

The door swept open, and my breath caught in my throat. He was there. In a dark charcoal suit, and he looked amazing. Utterly amazing. The jacket fit his strong arms and broad chest like it had been sewn on him. The pants made his legs look endlessly long. A dark scarlet tie made the crisp white shirt look even brighter than usual. And his face… his eyes… that smile when he looked me over. And appeared to like what he saw.

Music drifted softly in the background, and the spicy scent of good food was in the air.

No question about it—this was definitely a date.