Emerge (Evolve Series #1)(38)

“Good morning,” I say cheerfully, taking a minute to look him over.

Dark, sexy jeans that hang oh so right, a gray henley and Doc boots, still the cross necklace and perfect hair. Looking forward to

today—I am! I am!

“So, whadda ya think?” He grins with one side of his mouth and that single cocky eyebrow as he notices my perusal.

“I’ve seen better,” I say with a shrug of my shoulder.

“I haven’t.” He winks...every time I see him.

“Oh, please, like I even remotely believe that. You don’t strike me as a cheesy lines guy, so don’t ruin it now.” I wink at him

this time.

He takes my hand, guiding me down the hall. “Disney, I say almost nothing I don’t really mean. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever

seen anything better.”

Giddy with his sweet words, I ask, “so where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He helps me into his very nice silver car. That’s all I know—silver, two doors, not a truck, looks expensive. He

walks around the front, which I pay way too much attention to, and climbs in the driver’s seat. “You want music?”

“You know the answer to that.”

“So I do, Disney.” He shoots me an adorable sidelong glance and starts the car and the music.

Is that? Oh, surely not. I thought I was the only person my age who knew ELO. My dad played them on records for God’s sake!

Anything could have just played, some cliché, sound-the-same crap...but it was ELO. This little surprise is doing funny things to

my head.

“Have you eaten?” he asks.

“I was in bed when you called,” I titter. “No, I haven’t eaten.”

“Me either, shall we start with that? I don’t want you hungry.”

I agree that sounds fine and a few minutes later we pull up to a little café on a historic district street. I wonder how he knows

of this place.

We opt to sit outside on the back deck; it has a great view of the lake. The houses around the water are spectacular. I always

wonder when I see houses like that, what the heck do those people do for a living? My dad used to always tell me, “Slugger, money

like that comes two ways. You’re born to it or you screw somebody else out of it.”

My dad is the hardest worker I know—any day, any shift; and we struggled. These houses are three stories with private sanded

beaches and stone steps from their lower decks to the water. I wonder if they ever stop and take it all in. Do they appreciate what

they have or do they wish they had the one across the water, cause it has more windows?

“Do you know what you want?” His question pulls me from my thoughts.

“I have absolutely no idea.” I’m not just talking about the menu and I think he knows that. “I’ll just have what he’s having,

” I tell the waitress. “So, are you going to tell me what we’re doing today?”

“Nope, you’ll see. Are you not big on surprises, Disney?”

“Yes and no. I love good surprises. I get ants in my pants but I don’t like the lingering fear from knowing most of them don’t

turn out that way. I have to really trust the person to know the surprise will be good.”

“I hope to make everything wonderful. If it’s not, you tell me, okay, Laney? Today and always, just tell me, and I’ll fix it.”

He smiles warmly and I see sincerity in it, warming me to the idea of more time with this guy.

Our food arrives and it smells wonderful. Blueberry stuffed strudel, and the first bite confirms it— Dane has excellent taste.

“Mmmmm,” escapes me despite the mouthful.

“You like?”

“Oh my God, like is far from the right word. It may be the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

“Yeah, I love this place. Next time we’ll get the strawberry chip pancakes. You can go ahead and thank me now,” he laughs as he

puts a piece of heaven in his mouth.

“Thank you,” I say, a bit embarrassed, looking down at the table. Of course I was going to thank him at the end of the meal.

“No, Laney.” He drops his fork and reaches across for my hand with a soft chuckle. “I meant you’ll be thanking me for

introducing you to the pancakes.”

“Oh, well, thank you for that, and this.”

He kisses the back of my hand he’s holding. “Thank you for joining me.”

I look down, focusing on my dish rather than the rush of emotions surging through me.

“Laney, how is it possible you have no idea how captivating you are?”

Evan asked me something similar once, I remember it melted me to learn he thought that way...Evan.

“Knowing me so little, what can you possibly mean?” This is a test. If he leads with the word hot, smokin’, tits, or ass, he’s

taking me home.

“Girls came in and out of that room all night. The only one I noticed was you. Not just that you’re gorgeous, you are, but a lot

of them were pretty.” He glances out the window briefly before turning back to me with a serious tone to his expression. “But

you, I remember you asked, ‘so you live three to this room?’ and your voice, I couldn’t have not turned around. The more we all