But he was getting ahead of himself. First, he needed to convince her that they should be together. If she walked away before he had a chance to show her how much he wanted her to stay . . . It’d be like tearing himself in two. Part of him would go with her. And he’d be left wondering what might have been forever.

A soft knock sounded behind him. He turned and found Sarah standing at the back door, smiling at him through the window. He’d left a note on the front door for her to come around so that he didn’t miss her while he set up the backyard for their dinner.

He opened the door and smiled back at her. “I’m so glad you came.” He took the cooler from her hand. “Hungry?”

“Starving.”

So was he. For her.

“Let’s head on back to the firepit.”

He followed her down the porch steps and around the path to the back garden. She wore faded jeans, a lightweight baby-blue sweater, and short brown boots. Her hair was up in a ponytail. No makeup again. She looked tired but at the same time fresh and natural. He loved that Sarah didn’t hide behind all that stuff. She was perfectly comfortable in her own skin. And he found that exceedingly sexy.

Family and friends thought he didn’t want to commit to anyone. Not true. He just wanted to find the right woman.

And he was pretty damn sure she was standing in front of him.

Making a commitment to Sarah didn’t scare him half as much as losing her did. That’s why he’d struggled with how to apologize and show her that he really did want to be with her for the right reasons.

* * *

Sarah’s shoulders slumped the second her phone rang. She wanted one work-free evening and time to explore this thing happening between her and Luke.

She turned to him. “I’m so sorry. I have to take this.”

“No problem.”

She appreciated that he meant that, but still wished she didn’t have to interrupt their date. “Hi, Abby.” She sighed, not hiding her disappointment about the interruption.

“Are you okay?”

She hated making Abby concerned. “Sorry. Yeah, I’m fine. What’s up?”

“You tell me what’s up.” Abby knew her too well. Last they left things on their call before Sarah headed to Luke’s, Sarah had expressed how happy she was about making up with Luke.

“I’m trying to have a date with Luke, but someone interrupted us.”

“Oh crap. Sorry. And yay! He’s the first man you’ve been interested in since Sean. This is so great.”

Sarah chuckled under her breath. “I love the enthusiasm, but if I don’t actually get back to the date it will end without it starting.”

“Okay. Sorry. I wish I could get this done some other way, but . . .”

“Abby, what is it?”

She sat in the Adirondack chair by the firepit. Luke hadn’t lit the logs yet, but he’d taken the time to bring the two chairs down from the porch. He’d even cut some flowers from the fading garden and placed them in a vase on a low table set for two with stoneware plates, silverware, and red linen napkins. Very simple and pretty. It had been a long time since she’d shared dinner with a man when she wasn’t conducting a business meeting.