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the mirror by the door, I finger combed my hair and added lip gloss. Thankfully I had just come from work and wasn’t in my usual yoga pants. I wore a pair of skinny jeans with flat lace-up boots and a baggy cardigan over a loose black and white gingham button up. That was the nice thing about working in a lab; you didn’t have to wear office attire.
    Before I left, I sent a quick message to Evie to inform her of my date and asked her to check in with me later to make sure no one had killed me.
    I ran out the door and made my way around to the passenger side of the truck. Standing at a whopping five-two, I was silently thankful for the running board to assist me. I made myself comfortable on the leather seat and buckled up, turning to look at him once I settled.
    Jack stared at me like he was remembering what I looked like naked. A blush began to warm my cheeks and I looked away feeling like an idiot.
    “Ready?” he asked with a laugh in his question.
    “Yeah.”
    A neutral silence settled around us on the drive. I was horribly uncomfortable in quiet situations and the more quiet it got, the louder it felt, until I caved and tried to fill the void.
    “So …” Do you come here often? Mentally rolling my eyes at my lame idea of a conversation starter, I shut down that train of thought . “How long have you lived in Cincinnati?”
    “A few years. I have a buddy that lives here, so I figured I would give it a shot at making it home.” He glanced over at me. “How about you?”
    “Most of my life. A couple moves when I was younger, but I’ve been here for about fifteen years.”
    “It’s a good place. I can’t say I have any regrets about my move.”
    We continued talking about the pros and cons of Cincinnati for the rest of the drive. The conversation flowed easily and I started to relax. It might have been one of the weirdest situations I had been in, getting ready to go on an impromptu date with someone I had random public sex with, but in that moment I was content with my choices. I decided to go with the flow and see what happened.
    We parked and made our way up to Fountain Square. The large fountain flowed in the middle of the square, with an ice skating rink in front of it, close to the street. The unseasonably warm November temperature made for an even bigger Friday night crowd. Many of them crammed into the rink and took advantage of being able to skate without all the winter garb. Watching the couples and friends fall and laugh, we made our way to the other side of the fountain and headed to Rock Bottom Brewery.
    Surprisingly, for a Friday night there wasn’t a wait and we were led to our seats. The restaurant was loud but had a relaxing environment, with all the wood wainscoting and low lighting. We were seated in a much quieter spot in the back, behind the glass-enclosed brewing equipment located in the middle of the restaurant. I didn’t know if they used it to actually make beer or it was purely for looks, but it gave me something to look at after I sank down in the soft leather of the booth before picking up my menu. Feeling Jack watch me as I struggled to look at anything except him, I started to feel awkward.
    “What? Do I have something wrong with my hair?” I reached up to bring any strands down. “Don’t you need to look at the menu?”
    “No, I come here often enough with the guys that I know what I want. I’m kind of creature of habit; I tend to get the same thing every time I come.” His head tilted to the side while he studied me as if I was something fascinating. “Do you know that you bite your lip when you’re concentrating?”
    “Oh. Well… Okay. And, um … no. No one has ever pointed that out to me before.” I licked my lips and tried to do everything I could to not bite them. Once he’d pointed it out, it was all I could think about doing.
    “You do. I noticed the other night at the club.”
    We stared at each other, both remembering that night. I couldn’t seem to