There was no time to think, because he didn’t take no for an answer, physically steering her out of the tiny space. “Ten minutes. And don’t be late. I hate it when my food gets cold.”

It’s only dinner, Tessa reminded herself. Like roommates. Still, the smell of the onions and garlic, the shock of the surprise invite, and the hard muscles of Mr. Good Lookin’ somehow gave her a second wind.

She walked into the kitchen ten minutes later with her hair wet, wearing shorts and a black T-shirt that said Everything Sounds Better in French.

Leo was tossing delicious-smelling cheesy pasta in the most enormous aluminum cooking bowl she’d ever seen. He gestured for her to pick up the bottle of red wine and two glasses that were sitting on the counter, while he grabbed the bowl and headed out the sliding door to the tiny brick patio.

There were salad plates on the table holding fancy greens and oranges and pistachios. A couple of roses from their elderly next-door neighbor Mrs. Bender’s everblooming rose bushes were stuck in a bell jar in the center.

Wait. Mr. Unromantic had cut roses for the table?

Apparently, he’d also strung a solitary string of lights across the patio and looped them around the trunk of a big oak tree, making the tiny backyard look like a romantic fairyland.

Leo held out a chair for her. Their outdoor dining set was cobbled together from both of them—an old yellow chair from her, a blue one from him. Different colors and not matching, yet somehow together, they did. Their only other piece of furniture was an old glider, painted a bright aqua blue, a gift from Tessa’s mom, who was happy to get it out of her garage.

Tessa sat down. A warm breeze blew in from the hills, and in the distance, little downtown lights were twinkling. A perfect late spring evening. “Sit. Rest. Eat,” he said.

She couldn’t help smiling as he held out her chair for her. “You know you just proved that you’re the perfect maître d’.”

“Owner,” he corrected. “The boss.” He seemed to consider that. “I believe that dinner is—should be—an experience. One to be savored and enjoyed.”

Just then Cosette appeared from her travels around the garden with something in her mouth. Which she gingerly placed at Tessa’s feet.

Leo startled and stepped back. “Is that a…dead…”

She bent over to examine it. “I can confirm that it is, indeed, a deceased chipmunk.” Looking up, she found Leo watching reluctantly. “Didn’t you ever have a cat?”

He raised a hand. “Dog person here. But even that’s a commitment.”