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“Kansas City ribs Yeah I figured Is he nice?”

“He seems okay”

“Just okay?”

“Okay is fine with o…and stop trying to change the subject Why are you canceling your date?”

“Are we back to that? It’s not a date I only said I’d have dinner with him”

“If it’s not a date, why not go ahead and keep it?”

“For heaven’s sake…” Dawn took a breath She felt edgy and irritated, and why let it out on Cassie? If she’d let Gray fast-talk her into this, whose fault was it but her own? “All right It’s a date And that’s just the point I don’t do dates I’ or even a reasonable stand-in I’le and unencumbered, and that’s that”

Cassie lifted her eyebrows “Wow,” she said, very softly “I’m impressed You’re unen—whatever”

“Unencumbered, and don’t play dumb with me” Dawn snatched a blouse froer “You know exactly what I’ I don’t want a h, thank you very much”

“You uy yesterday, he asks you out on a date and now he’s trying to ”

“I didn’t say—”

“Look, he wants to take you to dinner That’s all he wants Well, okay He’s a man and you’re a wo for more than that—but the rest is up to you If you want to stop at a drink, fine If you want to tack on dinner, great And if it turns out that he makes your temperature climb and you want to end up in bed with him—”

“Never!” Dahirled around “I don’t want to go to bed with Gray or anybody else”

“Hey I didn’t mean—”

“I’d sooner enter a convent than—than—” Dawn’s voice trembled From the look on Cassie’s face, she knew she’d said far hting to sound calo out with a man to why I should sleep with him”