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  "Hi," I gush.

  "Hi," he replies.

  We look at each other and surge into endless smiles. I may have never smiled this much before in my life.

  "What?" Luke says with a smirk.

  I shake my head, "nothing," then look at the ground.

  "Lunch?" he asks.

  "Yes, but I'm driving," I babble as I walk past him and get into my vehicle.

  Luke opens the door and gets into the passenger side. He closes his door and smiles at me. So far, the day has gotten off to a good start. Luke looks hot as usual. I am trying not to squeal!

  I look at him and say, "Where do you want to go?"

  "I don't care, anywhere, but Mary's." he says turning on my radio.

  We drive a little way before he tells me to turn back to the shop as he forgot something. So, I turn around and head back. He gets out of my vehicle and walks over to his truck. He comes back with a large cooler between his hands. I roll down my window.

  "Pop your trunk, please," he shouts.

  I pop my trunk, and Luke sets his cooler down then closes it gently before getting back into my vehicle. I look over at him with a confused look on my face. I wonder what he is planning to do with it, but it must be good knowing him.

  He looks at me, smiles, and says, "Just drive!"

  "Where are we going?" I ask.

  "I will tell you when you need to turn," he laughs.

  Hmm. I am puzzled, but I drive along. We head a little further out of town then turn off on a dirt road. We go down the dirt road a bit before Luke tells me to stop. He gets out of my car, and I do as well. He tells me to pop my trunk open to grab his cooler and asks if he can take the blanket from my trunk.

  I nod, and he hands me the blanket while he takes the cooler. He sets off, walking into the woods. We are walking down a narrow little trail then come upon a lake. My eyes look around in amazement at how beautiful the view is. I wonder what this place is. Luke is full of surprises, the good kind!

  "Can you hand me your blanket, please," Luke asks.

  I hand him my blanket after he sets his cooler down near a little spot where someone had previously set a fire. I watch as he unfolds my blanket and places it on the ground. He picks up his cooler and puts it back down on one of the edges of my blanket. He looks at me, giggling.

  "You can sit, Ali," he smirks.

  "Oh," I giggle.

  Mesmerized by him, I sit down on the blanket and continue to watch him as he gathers sticks and branches. I look over at the lake for a minute then look back at him. He starts a fire then sits down next to me. He stares off in the direction of the lake. While the scenery is beautiful, my eyes are fixated on Luke; a perfect view all on its own.

  I look over at him and study every inch of his face before looking back at the lake. I can feel his eyes on me, and I cannot help but smile.

  "What?" I say as I turn to look at him.

  In the softest, most heart-pumping voice, he says, "You're beautiful!"

  I blush a little. Luke smiles while looking into my eyes and I smile back then look down at my blanket. He gets up and opens his cooler.

  "A burger and chips okay for lunch?" he conveys.

  I nod politely and look back at the lake. I'm on cloud nine right now, considering that I am on a technical picnic date with the best-looking guy in the world. I look back toward him and watch as he smiles at me and makes burgers for us. His arms are so muscular, and his face is more visible since he has turned his hat backward. Man, he's handsome, and he enamors me.

  He hands me a plate, then he sits beside me as we eat our lunch. He finishes his burger in no time, then lays down on my blanket on his side with his arm propped up under him.

  He stares at me while I finish the rest of my food. Nothing like being put on the spot and having the guy you have the hots for watching you eat. I put my plate aside and thank him for cooking lunch. He tells me it was his pleasure.

  "You have a little mustard on your cheek," he chuckles.

  Embarrassed, I quickly slap my hands to my face to remove the mustard. Luke moves closer to me as he reaches his hand towards my face.

  "I got it," he says with the most beautiful smile I've seen him give yet.

  Our eyes lock, and we stare at each other for what feels like an eternity. Luke breaks our stare as he looks to my mustard-stained cheek. His hand is a little coarse but soft, as he gently removes the mustard from my cheek with his thumb. We lock eyes again before he breaks our stare as he looks down at my lips, I look to his. He leans in closer to me, puts his hand behind my neck, and presses his lips against mine. I close my eyes.

  I feel my body go weak. Luke's lips are so soft and firm. He removes his lips from mine, looks me in the eyes, smiles, then kisses me again. Not using his tongue but a pure innocent kiss. It's just as passionate and perfect as I imagined it would be. I am warm and tingly, with screams of joy radiating on the inside. I am feeling completely breathless.

  He ends the second kiss and says, "We should get back to the shop."

  Unable to speak, I nod and smile at him. He smiles back as he gets up from my blanket to pack up the food. He walks over to the lake and fills up a water bottle. I grab my blanket and shake the grass from it before folding it up. I watch as Luke puts out the fire and grabs his cooler. He smiles at me then turns; I follow him as he takes off back through the woods to my car.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The whole drive back to the shop, I am floating outside my body. Luke makes me feels so beautiful, and I am starting to become comfortable with him. I catch him looking at me a lot on the way back while we sing to the radio just like we did yesterday. His voice is incredibly sexy when he tries to sing instead of being silly about it. Today has been the best day I have had in a long time. Luke is fantastic, and he is everything I could want in a guy.

  Luke grabs the volume button and turns the music down a little, "What movie do you want to see tonight?" he says, looking at me while he fidgets with one of the air vents.

  "I was thinking since it's a nice day and should be a nice night, most likely, we'd go to the drive-in instead of the theater." I smile.

  "Where is there a drive-in?" he asks.

  "Not too far from the shop. Every summer, well, at least when I still lived here, they would open the old drive-in for the summer," I say, feeling unsure if they even still open it anymore.

  Hopefully, I am right.

  "That would be cool! I could pick you up in the Charger. If it happens to not be open anymore, we can do Plan B and head to the theater," Luke states.

  I pull into the shop and park back where I was this morning.

  "Sounds like a plan," I say in excitement.

  Luke gets out of my car, but he bends down before he closes the door and says, "See you tonight at seven-thirty! Oh, and pop your trunk, would ya."

  He winks and closes his door. I sink back into my seat and soak up every moment of what took place at lunch before collecting myself and heading into the shop to finish working with Gladys and Maureen.

  I walk into the shop, and the first person I see is Jason. I hope he did not see Luke and me together just now as I do not need him starting a fight at work.

  "Alicat! What are you doing here?" Jason says with a confused look on his face.

  "I've been here all day working in the office with your mom and Maureen," I reply.

  He chuckles, "For reals!?"

  "Yeah, we are going over everything she does for the shop before she retires in a few weeks," I explain.

  I am so glad I did not have to defend my whereabouts with Luke. Jason is in a good mood, and I prefer it that way.

  "What? Maureen's retiring?" he says.

  I am a bit surprised that he does not know. I swear sometimes talking to Jason is like talking to a wall. He's cute, but most of the time, the hamster is asleep at the wheel. Luke peers around the corner and walks to a stall where a truck is lifted into the air. He must be changing a rear differential or something.

>   He's so hot when he is full of grease and sweat. I wish he had his shirt off, so I could gawk at him. Not that his face isn't more than enough. I turn my attention back to Jason as I completely missed most of what he said to me about Maureen. I am so obsessed, ugh, is that the proper word for what I am feeling right now. I have been ignoring most of what others say to me when I think about him. Okay, yes, I'm obsessed.

  "Are you coming to the cabin with us this weekend?" he says, well more so, pleads.

  "Who all is going?" I reply, already knowing the answer, but I want to see if he will say if Luke is or not.

  I'm not even sure if he is. I forgot to ask him during lunch.

  "Well, Friday will just be me, Austin, my parents, and... fuck face over there," he says as he looks in Luke's directions.

  Yes! Luke's going! It does not matter that Jason loathes him since I already have a contingency plan for that. I hope they don't get into any fights while we are at the cabin. Breaking stuff there would be awful because a lot of the decorations are priceless antiques. Hopefully, Ris will keep Jason occupied enough for that not to happen.

  "Then a few other guys, Nikki, and Mindy will be coming up Saturday," he finishes.

  I blurt out, "Bridget too?"

  "No, she has to work, and I don't want to hear her whiny ass all weekend," he bellows loudly.

  I am so mean for being tickled pink, jumping up and down inside, knowing that Bridget will not be coming to the cabin this weekend, and I will not have to compete for Luke's attention.

  "I'm coming but won't be there till later Friday night. I have to wait for my roommate Ris to get here."

  "You're bringing a friend? She hot?" Jason says as his face lights up.

  "Well, she ain't ugly," I laugh as I start to walk away.

  "She better not be," he says in all seriousness.

  Jason knows of Ris, so he will be looking forward to meeting her. I feel more relaxed and excited about the weekend now.

  I make my way back to the offices and get back to working with Gladys and Maureen. I never realized just how much she does for this shop behind closed doors. I am so glad she stuck around with my father for so long.

  CONSUMED BY MOUNTAINS OF KNOWLEDGE, paperwork, and filing from Maureen as she goes over every detail of her daily routine, I check the time; it's four-thirty now. Shit. I should head home to get ready for my date with Luke tonight, but I don't want to just up and leave. I wonder what time Maureen usually heads home for the day, as I know the shop closes at 5 p.m.

  "We can pick up here tomorrow, ladies. It's time for me to get home and soak my feet," Maureen says as she slips off her work shoes and puts her everyday shoes on.

  They do not look much different from each other. I grab my purse and take out the milk I bought this morning then toss it into the trash. What a waste that was! Tomorrow if I get milk, I must remember to put it in the fridge as soon as I get here.

  I tell Gladys and Maureen to have a great rest of their day then head out to my car. As I walk through the shop, I notice Luke finished the truck he was working on when I was last out here and is now under the hood of a different classic car. I can tell he loves doing his job, just like my father did.

  Here at my dad's shop, they work on nothing but classic vehicles, so anything newer than 1996 must go to a standard auto body shop. My dad dedicated a good portion of his life, keeping the classics on the road. He didn't want them to be forgotten. Luke told me that they added a paint booth to the shop's side because my dad was getting sick of sending cars out for paint jobs that he'd have to wait forever to come back. My dad and Ernie hired some incredible auto painters, which has brought in a lot more business.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I rush from my vehicle into the house. I need to get ready. I fly up the stairs to get into the shower, while ripping my clothes off from today. As I wash my hair, I cannot help but daydream about what might happen on my date tonight with Luke. Will we kiss again? Will it be a full-on make-out session? I'm sort of nervous.

  Will it go further? Am I ready for it to go further? I know I have been secretly fantasizing about what he looks like naked. However, when it comes down to it, I'm scared as hell thinking about it. I don't want sex to change anything or ruin what we have built up so far. We've come a long way in such a short time and having sex now may complicate things.

  That is if he even wants to have sex with me. What if he doesn't want to? Oh, who am I kidding, every guy wants to get laid. Right?

  I step out of the shower and put on some of my nourishing Pure Romance body lotion. I love the smell of this stuff, and it makes my skin so smooth and silky. I skip down to my room like an overly excited child. I grab some sexy lace boy shorts and my nude strapless bra before heading back to the bathroom to do my hair and makeup. I check the time, five forty-five.

  Ugh, he's going to be here in less than two hours, and I do not know what I'm going to wear. I open my music app on my phone and select a pop station from Pandora.

  I blow dry my hair, straighten it, then add some curls to give it a little volume. I apply a subtle smoky eye, not too over the top and trashy, though. I put on a light pink lip gloss and cover it with my twenty-four-karat gold flake lip gloss. I blot my lips, do a hair flip while running my hand through it before flipping back up and heading to my room.

  I dance down the hallway as I jam out to the music blaring from my phone in the bathroom. I enter my room and have no clue what I plan to wear tonight. I do not want to wear business casual, and I do not want to dress like a tomboy, which I have been doing lately. I graze over the clothes in my closet and come across the dress my father bought me for my High School graduation. I have not worn it since that day. It's practically brand new.

  It's a cute little yellow floral sundress with spaghetti straps. It's mid-thigh length, has a high low ruffle hemline, and the back-tie strings lace-up to the waist with a cinched look. I slip it over my head and look at myself in the mirror. It still fits; my body fills it out a lot better now than when I graduated. I grab a necklace, my jean jacket, and light tan sandal heels. I head back into the bathroom to check over my hair and makeup. I apply some fragrance mist to my hair, dress, and lady bits before shutting off the light and making my way downstairs to wait for Luke. I check the clock, proud of myself that I am ready with twenty minutes to spare.

  I sit down on the couch and turn on the television while I wait for Luke to arrive.

  My phone buzzes.

  Good luck on your date tonight! Do everything I would do!! *winking face tongue out emoji

  I laugh while reading Ris's text. She's such a dirty whore, but I love her to bits. I take a selfie and sent it to her. I anticipate an even dirtier reply.

  Girl, you're so getting fucked tonight. You look smoking hot!! *five eggplant emojis

  I hear a door slam and rush over to the window; it's Luke. My chest starts racing, my heart starts thumping, and I pace back and forth as he walks up to the door. His hair is laid nicely on top of his head, and he is wearing a tight white t-shirt with dark blue jeans. I step away from the door and head back to the couch to turn off the TV. I am going crazy inside.

  He knocks at the door, and I walk over to open it. I open the door with a smile on my face and quietly say, "hi". As he takes in the sight of me before him, Luke's face is alarming yet flattering at the same time.

  "Damn. You, you look stunning," he says as he looks me over.

  "Thank you!" I reply, still smiling.

  We walk to his car; he drove the Dodge Charger. He is walking a few steps behind me. I turn around and look at him. He's practically drooling like a dog who just received a bone.

  "What?" I say a tad embarrassed while loving the fact that I engulf him.

  "Sorry, it's just that dress- it's-ugh- you're beautiful in it," he replies as if it seems I may have caught him off guard on what to say.

  I am immensely proud of my choice in attire tonight. Who knew my old graduation dress would one day serve a greater p
urpose?

  He opens my door for me, and I sit down. I watch as he walks around to the other side and gets in. He sits and stares at me, smiling. I blush while smiling at him then look away

  "We should probably get going before we miss the movie," I say.

  "Ugh, yea." he sighs.

  "You look amazing," he says again, and we head down the driveway.

  I smile then turn up the music. I am so happy that we are together right now, Luke makes me forget all that is going on in my life, and I catch a break from my current depressing reality.

  WE ARRIVE AT THE DRIVE-IN, and I'm happy to see it is open and still showing summer movies. I think a drive-in film is way more romantic than watching one at a theater. You are alone in a vehicle instead of sitting next to strangers. It allows the chance for more intimate moments.

  "Sweet, it's open!" Luke says in excitement.

  I reach into my purse to grab some money. I hand him twenty bucks.

  Grabbing my hand Luke says, "No, put that away, I got it. It's on me."

  "You made me lunch, I will pay for the movie," I say sternly.

  "I asked you out to the movies, so I'm paying," he replies as he looks at me and puts my money back into my purse.

  He pays the guy at the toll booth, and we head over to find a spot to park.

  "I forgot to ask what is playing. But the guy did give me this paper for the radio channel we need to be on," Luke says as he hands me the paper.

  "It's not 80's movie night; those are on Thursdays and Saturdays it says," I blurt out.

  "I love 80's movies!" Luke shouts.

  What are the odds that he and I would love the same genre of movies? I'm usually the only one in the crowd.

  "Me too! What's your favorite?" I ask.

  "I have too many. But if I had to pick one. It would have to be Caddy Shack." He chuckles. "That movie is hilarious. Which one is your favorite?"

  "Solarbabies or Spaceballs." I ramble.

  "I'm a Mog! Half Man, half Dog," he laughs as he references John Candy's character in the movie, Spaceballs. "I completely forgot about Solarbabies, though. That's a good one too!"