Page 29 of The Deal Breaker
A glance at the table made her stumble.
Iris fell forward. Her left arm shot out to balance herself while she clutched the plate with her right hand. Somehow, she balanced herself and didn’t hit the floor. Dessert survived, too.
Her pulse raced as if she and the brownies had gone splat on the floor. She took a breath and another.
Except…
She studied the table, unease growing with each passing second.
Seeing the tablecloth, coordinating napkins, plates, glasses, silverware, and a vase full of flowers was unexpected. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble. Dash knew where things were kept, but that was about it. Which meant Raina probably set the table.
Iris’s heart fell.
Who was she kidding? It plummeted to her feet and kept right on going to the earth’s core.
Raina must have returned from her weekend away and decided to have a romantic dinner with Dash, not knowing he’d invited Iris over.
No big deal. She didn’t want to be a third wheel.
I’ll leave the brownies where Dash can see them.
But as she set the plate on the table, disappointment weighed heavy on her.
Shake it off.
She would, but first, she wanted to get out of here fast. Dash had never been big on PDA with the women he dated, but Raina was always touching or kissing him.
Iris headed to the door.
“Hey. Where are you going?” Dash asked. “The food will be here in a few minutes.”
She grabbed the door handle. “I don’t want to be in the way.”
“How would you be in the way?” He sounded confused.
Walking out without answering would be rude. She let go and faced him.
Dash’s hair was messy as if he’d been dragging his hands through it. He wore sweatpants and a T-shirt with a vintage game controller graphic on the front. Not exactly date night attire, but Dash dressed like that on weekends.
She motioned to the table. “You’re having dinner with Raina.”
A puzzled expression formed on his face. “I’m eating with you.”
“But the table…”
As his chest puffed out, a satisfied smile spread. “Not bad, huh?”
She stared in disbelief. “You did this?”
He nodded. “I can’t take full credit. I watched a video. Looks good, right?”
“Y-yes.” He must have left Wes’s house to have time to do this. Iris couldn’t believe he’d gone to this much effort. Not for her. And the way he wasn’t one hundred percent sure of his efforts was cute. “I figured Raina had done it.”
“Nope.” He stood taller. “Be careful, or it might go to my head.”
That made Iris smile. She glanced at the two place settings. “It’s just us tonight?”
“You and me, so get over here.” Dash pulled out a chair “And sit.”
