Page 31 of Miss Fortune

Huh. Not what I’d been expecting. And judging by the heat crawling up his neck, this was beyond uncomfortable for him. “I assure you, I’m not starving myself, but I didn’t get a chance to get to the store to stock up on food for the week.”

He paused, staring at me for a moment. “Well then, this is awkward.”

“Actually, it’s kind of sweet. But I came to terms not long after moving to LA I was never going to be one of those skinny girls. I have hips, and I love food.”

He turned crimson at the mention of my body. “Do you need help getting groceries tonight?”

“I’m having them delivered, but thank you for the offer.” It was unexpectedly generous.

But then he had to go and ruin it. “All right, I have nothing further.”

I was being dismissed. Damn, his mood swings were tough to deal with.

By Friday I’d convinced myself I must’ve made up the entire conversation whereby he invited himself on my hiking trip. Despite several opportunities, Caleb had yet to bring it up again. Instead, he’d been entirely business. For my part, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to come with me. I got enough of “lawyer Caleb” during the week, so subjecting myself to him on a Saturday morning wasn’t exactly my idea of fun.

On Friday evening I was packing up my things when my boss framed his doorway. “Have a moment, Ms. Wilson?”

“Certainly, Mr. Morrison.” The formality made me shake my head. Stepping inside his office I expected him to come up with some excuse to bow out of tomorrow. Undoubtedly, he’d only offered because he’d felt sorry for me, and now he was searching for a way to get out of it.

“I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow morning.”

“It’s okay if you’ve changed your mind.”

His brow furrowed. “You don’t want to do the hike?”

“No, I do, but I thought perhaps you changed your mind about joining me.”

“I didn’t.”

Huh. “Okay. Good.”

“I thought I’d pick you up at seven o’clock tomorrow morning. Parking can be tough, so the earlier we go, the better.”

“It’s perfect.”

“Good.”

“Great.” My conversational ability became more stunted the longer I stayed in his office. “Okay, have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too.”

By six fifty-eight the next morning, I was pacing my apartment. This wasn’t a date. Right? Just because he was hot, and we were both single didn’t make it weird for me. Just because I’d applied my favorite scented lotion and changed into three different outfits, didn’t mean a thing.

This was no big deal. Literally a walk in the park. I shouldn’t be the slightest bit anxious about it. Nope. I wasn’t nervous at all.

The butterflies that hit me in the stomach when the buzzer sounded from downstairs proved me a liar. I blew out a long breath.

Chill, Daisy.

I’d almost convinced myself I was calm until I walked out to the street and noticed Caleb dressed in athletic shorts and a T-shirt, similar to his outfit last weekend. The man looked good in a suit, but casual wear made him seem more…approachable. Yep. Approachable and lickable.

Jesus. How old was I?

“Good morning.”

He didn’t smile, but at least he didn’t appear unhappy to be here, either. Progress? “Good morning. You ready?”

“Yep.”