“They’re coming around eight. You sure it’s okay?”

“Sounds fun. Um, what exactly does card night entail?”

Leo shrugged. “Eating pizza. Drinking beer. Smoking cigars.”

“Sounds fun. But the cigars will be smoked outside, right?”

“Definitely,” he said with a little smile.

“Okay, great.” There was an awkward pause. “Have you talked to your dad yet about us preparing a full meal for him?”

“Well, we’re going to visit a farmers market and a handful of local farms today. I wanted to get a handle on what kind of produce is available so I can plan it.”

“You haven’t talked to your dad yet?”

“Well, the restaurant is always so busy, and—”

Tessa shook her head. “I can’t believe it.”

He rubbed his neck. Was he afraid? “What?”

“You’re chickening out.”

“I’m not chickening out.”

“And this is the guy who plunged into a fake marriage to jumpstart a business.”

“Okay, fine.” He rocked back and forth with his hands in his pockets. “I guess I’m a little…nervous.”

“About your dad?”

“Yeah. If he doesn’t like my ideas… I don’t know. I just don’t have a Plan B.”

That was strange. Because Leo always had a Plan B. “Okay, I’m going to do what you did to me.”

“What was that?”

“Well, you pushed me to act. And I did, Leo—meaning now you have to also. So we can do what we planned and get our real lives back.” Except real, fake…sometimes it felt all jumbled.

“Okay, you’re right. I’ll take care of it.”

She started to walk back but remembered something and turned around, nearly bumping into him. Leo gripped her by the arm to catch his balance. “Oops, sorry,” she said. “I was just going to ask, if you encounter any fresh strawberries in your travels, will you bring me some? It’s for a dessert.”

“Sure, Countess,” he said, searching her eyes in a way that suddenly made her face heat, remembering waking up next to him. And other things she needed to shove out of her brain. “No problem.”

Tessa was relieved to return to the table, where Gia was sitting, scrolling through her phone.

Tessa said, “I think it showed a lot of courage for Aaron to come and talk to you like that.”

Gia giggled. “He thinks you’re my parents.”

Leo chuckled.

“That’s terrible,” Tessa said, also chuckling.

“Even worse,” she said. “He asked me out!” She sounded half-panicked, half-excited.

“Where does he live?” Leo asked, which earned him a firm poke in the elbow. Still, Tessa caught him scanning the outdoor seating for the boy, who fortunately seemed to have left.

“That sounds fun,” Tessa said. “What did you say?”

She shrugged. “I told him I’d text him later.”