“Tonight?” Her eyes went wide.
“If you’re available.” His stomach knotted waiting for her to answer.
She chewed her bottom lip for a moment. “I can’t.”
“You already have a date?” he asked. He hated that his chest tightened. Damn the man that was taking his spot.
“Kind of,” she replied. She gave him a crooked smile. “He’s one. Remember how I said I like bald, chubby, toothless guys?”
It took him a moment to understand what she was saying.
“I’m babysitting tonight,” she clarified. She blushed, putting color in her cheeks that made him wonder where else she flushed when she was nervous. “But, I’m free tomorrow.”
Hope surged in his chest and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He’d asked her out before this, so he wasn’t sure why he was struggling with this now. Asking women out was kind of his specialty.
“Tomorrow is great,” he told her. He grinned. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
She winced. “Can you do eight? I work until seven.”
Not a lot of women had the gall to change the time of a date with a billionaire, and they both knew it. She wasn’t making this easy. However, he smiled. “Eight it is. I’ll pick you up here.”
“Sure.” She looked like she wanted to say more.
“What?”
“What should I wear?” She gave a nervous laugh. “I think the nicest dress I own is acceptable for Olive Garden, and I don’t see you taking me to Olive Garden.”
“Do you want to go to Olive Garden?” he asked her. He liked that she was blushing again.
“We can,” she told him. “It just doesn’t seem your style. You seem... fancier.”
He grinned. “I am fancier,” he assured her. “How about I take care of everything? You just finish your shift, and I’ll take care of everything else.”
She frowned. “What should I wear, though?”
“I’ll take care of that,” he told her. She didn’t look convinced. “I’ll get you something. And before you say I shouldn’t, I will remind you that I am a billionaire. And kind of your boss.”
“You are not my boss,” she replied, shaking her head.
“I own the building,” he said.
“Yes, but you don’t own Coffee Shack. I work for Coffee Shack. You can’t fire me. You can kick my employer out of the building, but you can’t directly fire me. So, you’re not my boss,” she explained. He liked the way she smiled as she said it.
“Well, that’s good then,” he smiled. “I don’t have to worry about any of those pesky employee dating rules.”
She giggled and it made his chest tighten. How in the world was he still nervous? She already said yes to the date.
“Can I ask you something?” He kept leaning on the counter, trying to keep playing it cool. “I’ve asked you out before. Why did you say yes this time?”
She shrugged. “Because this time you meant it.”
Her answer threw him off guard. Where normally he would have been able to hold a smile, he was unable to this time. “I meant it every time.”
She shook her head slightly. “Not like this. This time you’re actually asking me. It’s different somehow this time. You mean it.”
She had no idea how right she was. “I’m glad you said yes,” he told her.
She grinned. “Me too.”