“You’ve been Laney’d,” Cherisse said. “It’s always an experience.” She looked through the hamper as Keiran headed back towards the highway. Drowsiness was kicking in. She’d had a few mimosas as well. Laney had topped off her drink several times, going light on the orange juice. She focused on the hamper, curbing a yawn that threatened to escape. “Oh, they’re spa vouchers. I’d like to have those if you don’t mind. My birthday’s coming up. These chocolates are expensive too. We can share up the goodies. Holy fuck!” She clasped one of the gift certificates. “This is dinner for two at Prime. That place is fancy as fuck. I couldn’t even afford to stand outside there. Wow, Laney’s the best.”

Keiran laughed. “I’m sure you and Tyler will have fun.”

She peered at him. She hadn’t mentioned her first date with Tyler at all, simply because she’d been bored out of her mind. Tyler was chatty and name-dropped a lot as if stuff like that should impress her. It didn’t, so she certainly wasn’t wasting her Prime dinner on him. She wasn’t certain yet if she’d give him another chance in a different setting.

Keiran glanced over at her briefly before returning his gaze to the road. “How’d that date go, by the way?”

“Fine.”

“Just fine?”

She sighed. “Fine, it was terrible, happy now?”

“Not at all.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, lips pursed like he wanted to ask something but was unsure of her reaction. Keiran never seemed to care whether his questions were well received or not. Was he actually taking their truce seriously? “Why did you agree to the date? Was it because you found him attractive?”

Unsure where he was going with this, Cherisse considered brushing him off with a sarcastic reply. It was so ingrained in her to be like that with him, toss some snark that would satisfy her desire to be petty, but not today. It could be the mimosas running the show because she gave him an honest reply.

“When you’re a woman of a certain age, your family feels it’s their duty to point out your singleness and help you out. It’s just easier to seemingly go along with my mom’s not-so-subtle suggestions of eligible men. And if these guys want to get me free meals, who am I to argue? I’m not about to do a tug of war with the bill because it offends their sensibilities for a woman to pay. I’m just gonna eat my food and decide whether I want a repeat or not.”

“Is that what Tyler did?”

“Hell no, I didn’t even offer. That place is way out of my budget.”

Keiran laughed, and Cherisse couldn’t help responding with a smile of her own.

“So, you gonna see him again?”

Cherisse shifted the hamper on her lap, digging further into its depths. “I don’t know.” They hadn’t exactly clicked, but after a year off the dating scene, was she being overly critical? Tyler hadn’t truly said or done anything offensive. Yes, the name-dropping had almost made her roll her eyes, but was she giving him a fair chance? She was by no means obligated to. Perhaps he’d been nervous, and therefore rambling on about nonsense. Dating required too much damn thinking.