“You had such high hopes for the date, and I thought you’d…I don’t know…be upset if it didn’t meet your expectations.”

“Did you think I was going to come over here and cry in your beer?” she teased.

Tucker’s heart skipped a beat at the sparkle dancing in her eyes, and he gave her a rueful smile. “Maybe.”

“No.” She shook her head, turning back to her drink. “I’ve cried more than enough the past three years. Hell, the last seven years. I’m done with that.” She glanced at him again, the straw still in her mouth. “I’m not going to break, Tuck. I may have come across that way in the past, but I’m stronger now.”

Tuck. He wished he didn’t like the way she called him that so much. “Yeah, I can see that.”

Their eyes locked and held, and the general hubbub around them faded for long seconds until the waiter interrupted with her food. “Mmm.” Della lowered her face toward the steam rising off the piping-hot curly fries and inhaled. “Salty, oily goodness.”

She picked one up, blew on it, then popped it in her mouth before pushing the basket toward him. Next she reached for a piece of garlic bread, pulling it away from the other three slices and smiling as two long strings of melted cheese followed. She took a massive bite, then shut her eyes as she let out a hearty moan.

Watching a woman scarf down garlic bread like it was her first meal in a month should not be sexy. Except, fucking hell, it was. The gleam of oil on her lips made them even shinier as they closed around the bread, and that sound of appreciation…

It was practically pornographic.

But also, remembering all those times he’d watched her pick at her food, it was satisfying in a very non-pornographic way. He pushed the basket of fries back in her direction. “Don’t let these get cold.”

They didn’t really talk for the next ten minutes. She ate, and he drank his beer, watching the basketball game reflected in the window. “So,” she finally said, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin as she fished around in her bag and pulled out her phone. She swiped the screen a couple of times. “Who else looks good, do you think? Guy with his dog who just wants to be the big spoon?”

Tucker blinked as her thumb swiped left a few times. “You want to keep going?”

She glanced at him, surprised. “Of course. I’m in Denver every two weeks. Why not?”

He stared at her for several beats. After tonight’s disaster, he’d have thought she’d delete that fucking app ASAP, but she just kept on surprising him. He liked that about her. She’d been down for a while, but her determination to reclaim her life was admirable.