I stepped inside the entryway, taking her absence as an open invitation to do so. A minute later, Bailey came down the stairs, eyes brightening when they landed on me. Her dark blond hair was loose around her shoulders, and she looked hot as fuck in a pair of black jeans that showed off her legs, paired with a pink sweater that was just tight enough to keep drawing my eyes to her chest.

I was trying to behave, but damn, it was hard—literally—when I was around her.

Following a lengthy hello kiss and another in front of my truck for good measure, we finally made our way into the vehicle. I waited, letting the truck idle as Bailey buckled her seat belt. Turning to me, she tucked her hair behind her ear and batted her eyelashes.

“Where’s my autographed picture, Carter?”

“My bad.” I grinned. “I guess we’ll have to hold a private photoshoot later.”

Bailey reached over to my side of the truck, poking me in the bicep. “You’re going to offer up things and not deliver them?”

I dropped my voice, giving her a look. “Oh, I can deliver.”

Her eyes widened slightly, pink lips curving into what could only be described as a flustered smile.

It was cute as hell.

She shifted her weight, biting her bottom lip. “I guess we’ll see.”

“Guess so.”

Hopefully tonight. I mean, I could be patient. Would be patient. But I could still hope, right?

* * *

Bailey had told me about her birthday debacle in great detail, including the stupid stuffy French restaurant. I hadn’t known her long, but even I knew it was the opposite of the type of restaurant she would enjoy. So I intentionally kept it low-key when it came to choosing a place and picked a little Italian restaurant near campus. It had brick walls, fireplaces burning in the corners, and candles on the tables, but it wasn’t fancy or uptight by any measure.

“This is so cute,” Bailey said as the hostess ushered us to our table.

“Yeah,” I said. “Kind of has that whole homey thing going on. Great pasta too.”

After we’d ordered appetizers and entrees, she left the table to use the bathroom, and I quickly checked my messages. Dallas had texted me several times to let me know Shiv was now homeless and would be staying with us for a while. I wrote him back, then set down my phone as Bailey returned to the table.

“Hey, I have some good news.”

She sank into her seat, placing her napkin on her lap and looking at me questioningly. “What’s that?”

“Shiv’s place burned down,” I said.

“Um.” Bailey did a double-take, blinking several times. “What?”