Page 60 of The Birthday List (Maysen Jar 1)

I got the same tingle that I had earlier when he’d touched me there, liking it more the second time than I had the first.

When we reached the parking lot, Finn jerked his chin to a long row of cars. “I’m this way.”

“See you at the R Bar next week.” Cole shook his hand.

“Looking forward to it.” Finn smiled. “It was nice to see you again.”

“You too.” Cole looked to Kali and a sleeping Max. “Bye, kids.”

Kali ran over and hugged his knees. “Bye, Cole!”

With one last wave good-bye, Cole and I turned and crunched along the gravel toward where we’d parked our vehicles.

“Thanks again for going with me. It was fun.”

“You’re welcome.”

We reached my car and I stopped by the trunk. “So, what’s next?”

“How about dinner?”

I hesitated. When we were spending time together for the list, I had an excuse to see Cole. But dinner? The way he’d asked seemed much more like a date. But before I could think of a dodge, Cole spoke up first.

“It’s just dinner, Poppy.”

Just dinner. He was right. I was making more of dinner than it needed to be. “Sure. Any night next week you’re free, just let me know. We can either eat at the restaurant or go somewhere else.”

He grinned. “Not a lot of restaurants can compare to yours. In fact, I’ve pretty much lost my appetite for anything not served in a jar.”

I smiled. “Then I’ll see you next week.”

“It’s a date.”

Just like the last time he’d said those three words, my heart jumped.

And maybe one day, the stitch of guilt that came with it would go away.

“Hey!” I greeted Cole as he came striding into the restaurant.

It had been three weeks since the carnival, and Cole had become my favorite dinner companion. If we weren’t eating together at the restaurant, he’d meet me at Brad and Mia’s after my ukulele lessons.

Three weeks, and there had been only a handful of times when we’d had dinner apart.

The way my breath hitched when he smiled didn’t scare me anymore. I enjoyed the tingles he could conjure with the slightest touch. And I’d started to crave the way he sent my heart into overdrive with a heated stare from those green eyes.

It was a rush being around Cole. A rush I was learning to enjoy.

“You’re here early.” Not that I was unhappy to see his handsome face, but it was hours before our normal seven o’clock dinnertime.

“Change of plans.”

My smile fell at the frown on his face. “Uh-oh. Is everything okay?” I tensed, hoping he wasn’t here to deliver bad news about Jamie’s case.

“Remember I told you last week that I found a drive-in movie theater?”

I breathed a sigh of relief that he was here about the list, something he’d become nearly as dedicated to finishing as I was. “Yeah. Can you not go next weekend? Do you want to reschedule?”

“Something like that. We’re going now.”