Vindicate (Recovered Innocence #1)(24)

“I have not.”

She glares at me.

“It’s not a shrine,” I insist.

“Go on this date and prove it.”

“I don’t like you.”

“I’ve had a crush on Leo Nash since the eighth grade, so right now I’m not liking you very much either.” She smiles. “Wear this dress and those shoes and knock him on his ass.”

“Fine.”

I take the shoes, the dress, and the earrings she pressed into my hand before sending me home. I spend more time putting my makeup on and doing my hair than I ever have in my life. Normally I’m pretty minimalistic, but tonight I add a smoky eye shadow that makes the blue of my eyes pop and a shimmery lipstick that makes my lips look fuller than they are. Even with the extra time I took, I’m ready fifteen minutes early.

As I stare at my reflection, hardly recognizing myself, I wonder what Leo is going to think. And then I wonder why I care so much. And then I think about Beau and it takes everything in me not to rip everything off, scrub my face, and pretend I’m not home when Leo rings the doorbell. This feels all wrong. I can’t believe I let Leo bulldoze me into agreeing to this date. Twisting my hands, I pace back and forth in my small apartment. Oliver sits a few feet away, his tail curled around his feet, watching me with his accusing green eyes.

I can’t do this. I pull my cellphone out of my purse to text Leo when the doorbell rings. Oliver continues to stare at me. The bell rings again.

I’m sorry, I silently tell Oliver. His gaze bores into me and I’m trapped by the condemnation in his eyes.

Leo knocks and I jump. “Cora?”

“I can’t leave him out there,” I tell the cat.

No response. His glare tracks me as I go to the door and open it.

Leo’s hand is raised as though he was going to knock again. His jaw goes slack and now I have two sets of eyes staring at me from opposite sides. I don’t know what to do. I’m caught between what I should do and what I want to do.

“Wow,” Leo finally says. His gaze is everywhere, taking me in, from my freshly painted toenails to the soft bun at the top of my head. He offers me a small bouquet of white roses. “These are for you.”

“Thank you.” I love the smell of roses. I wonder how he knew that.

He’s the most dressed up I’ve ever seen him, in a button-down shirt and nice slacks. His hair is combed back from his cleanly shaven face and I can’t believe how handsome he is.

We stand there in awkward silence, taking in each other’s appearance. I have no reference for what I’m supposed to do here. What is the protocol? Should I let him in? I should let him in.

Opening the door wider, I wave him inside. “Come in.”

Leo’s gaze stays glued to me until he passes. He stops abruptly just inside the door. “You have a cat.”

I close the door. “That’s Oliver. He’s not really my cat. He just lives here.”

“Cora.” His voice is soft with shock. “Is that Cassandra’s cat?”

“I found him outside her apartment a few days…after. No one wanted him, I guess.”

Leo leans against the door, looking at me like he just can’t believe me. I don’t know where to look or what to do. Somewhere behind me I know Oliver is staring at me the same way Leo is.

Leo reaches for one of my hands, untwisting it from the bouquet that I’m practically crushing. “You took him in.”

“It’s more like he lets me feed him.”

He puts a hand to my cheek and leans in to kiss me. He smells good. So good. I close my eyes and kiss him back.

“I don’t know how you do it,” he says, as he ends the kiss. “But you constantly surprise me.”

I can’t tell from his tone if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“That dress.” He steps back and studies me again, with that same kind of glazed look in his eyes. “Wow.”

“I should put these in some water.” I untangle myself from him, needing some distance. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to compliments.

Oliver flicks his tail and walks away. He’s not happy with me. I’m going to pay for this later, probably with a regurgitated furball on my pillow.

Leo takes a short stroll around my apartment. Such as it is. I was lucky to find this converted garage. It’s small, but it suits my purposes. I take care of the main house when the owners go out of town. In exchange, I pay next to nothing in rent. He stops to examine a photo of Beau and me that was taken just before Cassandra was killed. It’s my favorite pic of the two of us. I can see who we used to be before and I can almost remember how it felt.

I don’t have a vase, so I put the flowers in a blue jar I got at a garage sale and set them on my little dining table. They look pretty. I finger a petal. These are the first flowers I’ve ever gotten from a guy. How sad that is.

“Are you ready?”

No, I’m not ready. I still think this is a really bad idea on every level. But there’s so much expectation in Leo’s face I feel like I can’t let him down. Smoothing the front of my dress, I decide that I’ll see how tonight goes. It’s just one night. I can give him one night.

“Sure.”

He walks me to his car and holds open the door for me. His hands are a little shaky and I wonder if he’s anywhere near as nervous as me. That’s not possible. He’s probably been on hundreds of dates. I don’t hold that or his prior relationship with Savannah against him. He doesn’t owe me anything. It’s not like we’re a couple, anyway. We’re…I don’t know what we are. Whatever it is, it’s just for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll go back to the way things were.