Matt shoved that thought to the back of his mind. He was nervous enough about going out with Julie tonight—he didn’t need to work himself up over his brother’s development plans too.
A mile or so from the freeway, he turned into the parking lot and pulled into a space beneath her condo. The spaces were all compacts, of course, so his truck just fit. He mused that he should’ve brought the Ferrari, but that wasn’t a first-date car. That one would come out once he’d connected enough with a woman to know if she was turned on by him or his bank balance.
He walked up to the security door. There, he took a deep breath, put his shoulders back and followed the instructions she’d given him.
The little speaker sputtered to life: “Hello?”
He pressed the intercom. “Hi. It’s Matt.”
“Oh great! I’ll be right down.”
He gulped. Stepping back from the door, he resisted the urge to pace nervously. This was just a date. They’d meet, they’d have dinner, and then…
Then anything could happen.
Anything.
He didn’t know whether it made him a cocky idiot or a hopeless optimistic, but he’d stopped at a drug store on the way here. At least he’d been smart enough to get out of Aspen Mill first—knowing his luck, one of his mother’s friends would’ve been behind him in the checkout line.
I am way too old to be embarrassed about buying condoms.
Such was life, though. At least he had them. That would be one less thing to sweat bullets over later on if things progressed in that direction.
Behind him, the security door clicked. He turned around, and when the door opened, there she was. Her pictures certainly hadn’t been misleading. Same smile, same pretty blue eyes. Her brown hair was a little longer, but otherwise, she looked exactly like she had on her profile. She’d been completely upfront about being, in her words, “not a skinny Minnie,” and she’d been one hundred percent unapologetic about it, which he’d loved. Her photos were gorgeous, but it was the “I’m not a size zero, I’ll never be a size zero, and the number of fucks I give about that is zero” comment that had gotten his attention.
She certainly had nothing to be apologetic about either. Wow.
He realized he was staring and quickly cleared his throat. “Um, so.” He hesitated, then awkwardly extended his hand. “I’m Matt. Good to finally meet you.”
With much more confidence than him, she shook his hand. “Julie. Good to finally meet you too.” She gestured out at the parking lot. “So, there’s a place up the road where we can get drinks.”
“Sounds great. I don’t know Goldmount very well, so I’ll follow your lead.”
“Perfect. Do you want me to drive?”
“I can. Truck’s right over there.”
She turned, and her eyes lit up. “Oh, I’m not gonna say no to a ride in that.”
“Yeah? You a truck fan?”
“Any girl who says she isn’t is a liar.”
Matt laughed. As they started toward it, he unlocked the doors, then went around to the passenger side to open her door. She climbed into the cab, and after he’d gotten in, he fired up the engine. She directed him to a steakhouse tucked in the back corner of one of the strip mall labyrinths. It was early yet, so they didn’t have to wait long for a table.
The hostess handed them a couple of laminated menus and some ice water, and then ran them through the specials. “Can I get you something else to drink while you’re deciding what to eat?”
“Yes,” Julie said. “I’ll have an iced tea.”
“And you, sir?”
“I’ll just have a…” His mind went blank. The image was there in his mind. He could almost conjure it in front of him. But the word. What the hell? “Um…”
The hostess cocked her head. “Sir?”
“Uh, I’ll have—” Seriously, brain? Seriously? What the fuck are— “A Coke, please.” He laughed. “Sorry. It was right on the tip of my tongue.”
She gave a quiet laugh and wrote it down.
After the hostess had walked away, Julie met Matt’s gaze. “Nervous?”
His cheeks were instantly on fire, so there was no point in pretending. “A bit, yeah.”
Julie smiled. “Good. Then I don’t feel so bad.”
Matt laughed. “You are too?”
“Oh God, yes.” She waved a hand. “Just filling out that stupid profile gave me indigestion.”
“You and me both.” He exhaled. “Kind of makes you wonder how people did this before the Internet.”
“They went to bars, got plastered and hoped for the best?” Julie laughed softly, almost shyly. “I’m so not good at that.”