He took a sip of his drink. “So, did you like him?”

It was unusual for either of them—much less both of them—to be so careful about what they were saying. There was a very large elephant somewhere in this room, but neither of them was ready to deal with it.

“Yes!” Oh, God, she was almost yelling Deep breath. “I mean...he’s a nice guy, but it was just dinner. At least I got my first post-divorce date out of the way, right?”

“Sure.” His frown was dangerously close to a scowl. “Did you get a kiss out of the deal?”

She snorted. “Uh...no. Just a handshake.”

His eyebrows rose at that. “A handshake? Is the guy blind?”

“What does that mean?”

Mike chewed his lip. “I...uh...nothing. I mean...you seemed to have a nice time. You were both laughing and talking all evening. You’re a beautiful woman. I’m just surprised he went with a handshake, that’s all. Seems pretty lame on his part.”

Zoey straightened, not sure she’d heard right. Had Mike just said she was beautiful? And why did that make something go all fluttery inside? It threw her enough that she lost control of her filter for a moment.

“The handshake was your fault.” She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. Damn it. She had not intended to tell him about Mason’s opinions on the two of them.

“My fault? How do you figure?” He set his cup down, staring at her.

“It’s stupid.” She forced a laugh. “When you came over to the table, he thought he saw something between us. You know...sparks. Chemistry. I told him he was crazy, but he was sure he picked up some sort of jealousy vibe from you.”

He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again. He was staring at the worktable in front of him, and that near-scowl had returned.

“Mike? That is crazy, right?”

He blinked. “What? Oh...yeah. Totally.” He cleared his throat. “We’re just friends. Right?”

They stared at each other, and time seemed to come to a stop once more. His brown eyes were darker than usual. A vein jumped and pulsed in his neck. His jaw was tight, and he chewed on his lip again. She wanted to chew that lip, too. Focus, Zoey. They’d never had those feelings for each other before, but if they did...and acted on them...

“It’s not like it would be the end of the world,” she said, wincing that she’d said it out loud.

“What wouldn’t be the end of the world? Us together? Zoey, I...”