Maybe it was that it felt like there was a hell of a lot at stake tonight.
He’d planned the whole evening, but it might be a huge error on his part. He’d thought it would be fun to walk down memory lane. Pizza, a movie, and making out by the lake. She’d mentioned it, and he was going to make it happen.
He was wondering if he’d miscalculated. They weren’t those two kids anymore. They were adults with grown-up problems, not teenagers looking forward to the school dance.
The door flew open, and Cat stood there looking so goddamn gorgeous, he lost the ability to speak for a moment. Had he ever looked at her? Really looked at her? At this moment, he was lost in the softness of her stunning green and gold eyes, her peachesand cream skin, plump pink lips, and a body that would turn any man’s eye.
That body was currently encased in faded blue jeans and a red cotton sweater. He immediately recognized the outfit, of course. On the left thigh of the jeans, he’d playfully drawn a heart with a pen when they were sitting in the school courtyard about a million years ago. He’d put their initials inside of it and a little arrow as well. She’d giggled at his romantic gesture, sweetly kissing him just as the bell rang.
He’d assumed the ink would come out of the denim when it was washed, but that wasn’t the case. Surprisingly, her mom hadn’t come after him about that stunt. Maybe she’d thought it was romantic, too.
As for the red sweater, he’d bought it as a Valentine’s gift along with a box of chocolates and a gold bracelet with another heart that had a tiny chip of a diamond. It had been all he could afford then. He certainly couldn’t have asked his old man for the money. Joel Winslow hadn’t been a massive fan of Catherine Townsend.
To be honest, their father had never been a big fan of any of their girlfriends or boyfriends. The control freak that he was, he’d wanted to choose their life partners for them.
Fat chance of that happening.
“Are those for me?”
Her voice brought him out of his reverie and snapped him back to the present.
“Actually, these are for your mom.”
This might be another reason Grace Townsend hadn’t kicked his ass about Cat’s jeans being written on. He’d made a point of trying to stay on her good side. Cat’s father had liked him, as well, but he’d been more aware of what the average teenage boy thought about. Tate was sure that the man wasn’t thrilled that Tate was thinking those thoughts, and possibly doing somethingabout them, with his little girl. Still, he’d been a nice man, and they’d gotten along pretty well.
“Mom, there’s an incredibly handsome man at the door with flowers for you,” Cat called over her shoulder.
She was smiling, so she must have remembered, too.
Grace came to the door and exclaimed happily about the flowers.
“You always were thoughtful,” she said, sniffing at the colorful blooms. “What do you two have planned for the evening?“
“It’s just a casual date, Mom,” Cat replied. “Pizza. Maybe a movie or something.”
“You kids have fun. I’m going to put my flowers in water. Thank you, Tate. It was very sweet of you to think of me.”
Cat grabbed her purse and pushed Tate toward the car.
“You are so shameless. Bribing my mother to like you. She’s a sucker for flowers, and you know it.”
“I do know it, and I am shameless. It helped back in high school, and I thought it couldn’t hurt now. Besides, your mom deserves flowers.”
Tate wished he had thought about giving gifts to his own mother more when he was younger. He hadn’t realized that he wouldn’t always have the opportunity. If anyone deserved flowers, it was Lily Winslow.
Joel certainly wasn’t giving them to his wife unless he’d fucked something up.
"She does,” Cat replied softly. “She’s been through so much.”
“Maybe we can all go out for Sunday brunch,” Tate suggested.
“I’d like that.”
Tate turned out of Cat’s neighborhood, heading away from town, which she noticed right away.
“Where are we going? I thought we were going to get pizza and see a movie?”
“We are.”
