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than willing to give up her tip in exchange for expressing her feelings.
    Luca gives me a quick wink before turning back to her.
    “I hope you’ll keep bringing your Honda in,” he says. “We’ll have some service bays dedicated to bikes, but I plan to retain all the loyal Baker Brothers customers.”
    She’s warming up. “Really?”
    He turns up the sunshine. “It’s my personal pledge, to keep you satisfied.”
    The waitress practically melts for him. She twirls a lock of dyed-auburn hair around her finger and asks if he’d like more coffee.
    “Whenever you get a minute,” he says.
    “I’ll brew a fresh pot.”
    After she’s gone, I say, “You could charm the pants right off a pants salesman.”
    He laughs. “I’ll take that as a compliment. And thank you again for talking to me about the locals. I was on the fence about keeping a bay for servicing cars, but you did your own magic, and talked my pants right off.”
    “Then you talked my pants off and got me to play hookie from work and have breakfast with you.”
    “And now neither of us is wearing any pants at all.”
    I pick up my utensils and contemplate a plan of attack for my giant waffle.
    “Who needs pants,” I say.
    “Pants just get in the way,” he agrees.
    “For our next date, pants are optional.”
    He murmurs a wordless agreement.
    My eyes widen in horror at my big mouth. I dig into the waffle to quiet myself.
    Tina, do not think about pants-optional activities with Luca. Do not think about kissing him, or any of the jungle gym stuff. Calm down, girl. This is only date one.
    And besides, there’s something very wrong with Luca that you haven’t yet uncovered. He’s always sending women flowers to apologize. Take it slow and figure out what’s wrong with him before you even consider going pants-optional.
    Luca’s fork and knife squeak on his plate. I look over at his plate. The white dish is nearly bare. His omelet and hash browns are gone.
    I watch as he inhales a triangle-shaped piece of toast in two bites. The man eats food like he’s angry at it.
    He sees me watching, and slows down, in a self-conscious way.
    I eat my waffle and watch with amusement as he carefully spreads marmalade on the remaining slices of toast.
    I can’t take my eyes off his hands. His finger doesn’t fit through the tiny handle on the coffee cup, so he holds the cup in one hand. The small white cup disappears in his palm.
    I’d like to disappear in those hands.
    “How long have you been at the flower shop?” he asks.
    “My mother bought it when I was five. I’ve never worked anywhere else.”
    “College?”
    “I’ve started a few different courses. Nothing finished.”
    “Starting things is easy. Finishing is tough.”
    “How about you? College?”
    He winces. “This and that. I did an apprenticeship in Australia for a year.”
    “You’re the exact opposite of me. I’ve never left the country. My life must seem claustrophobic to you.”
    He studies me quietly for a moment.
    I chew and swallow a bite of my food. I’m full now, so I set down my utensils and push the plate away.
    “What’s Australia like?” I ask.
    “I’ll buy you a book.” He grins. “How are you liking this date?”
    “I think it’s going well.”
    “If I ask you to go to the paint store with me and pick out paint colors, will that count as date number two?”
    “No, it would just be a continuation of this date, number one.”
    He looks up and nods for the waitress to bring us the bill.
    “In that case, I’d better be on my way. Since you’re busy Friday, how about we get together Saturday? Let’s do something crazy, like go to a movie.”
    “A movie? That’s not crazy, Luca.”
    “You’ll see.” He hands me his phone. “Punch your address in there and I’ll pick you up at eight.”
    I start typing in my address. He’s filed me in his contacts as Tina Great Legs Nice Smile Kinda Bossy.
    I glance up and see that he’s grinning. He meant for me to see