Free Love or Luxury by Heather Thurmeier

way it did to her bills.
    Out of sight, out of mind, right?
    No way could she allow herself to be distracted by Finn on her date with Reid. If she was going to give herself the best chance at rekindling things with Reid, then she needed to be fully attentive while on their date.
    Reid walked over with a smile on his face and gave her a quick peck. He was very handsome. And somehow the thought that he'd come straight to her from helping his patients make their lives healthier was a real turn on.
    Turn on? No, maybe not. Comfort. It was comforting to know he was the kind of man who cared about other people.
    They followed the hostess to their table by the window, the ambient light from the tiny votive candle in the center of the table reflecting off the glass. The perfect table for a romantic first date.
    Was this really a first date? It wasn't as if they were strangers. Far from it. Sure, years had passed since they'd been together, but did that mean they didn't know each other anymore?
    After a few minutes of staring at their menus, the waiter came over to take their order—sangria for them both as well as a selection of each of their favorite tapas. They chatted casually about his day at work, about which he sounded excited, and yet tired. And when it was her turn to talk about her day at work, she lied.
    She didn't tell him about how the only bright spot in her day at the diner had been seeing Finn for a few minutes while the rest of her shift had consisted of people complaining and cleaning up after a child who had gotten sick at the table.
    Not fun. And not good dinner conversation to have with a man who wouldn't take it well that she worked at a diner in the first place.
    She did say her volunteering at the women's shelter had gone well when she'd been able to secure funding from a local corporation to supply needed vitamins and supplements to the women and children. She finally felt like she was really making a difference. Someday it would be wonderful to donate more time to the shelter, to make a bigger difference.
    All those things were true, but had happened last week, not today.
    But if she didn't tell him about that, what would she tell him? She hadn't had a chance to stop in at the shelter again since last week because she'd been trying to pick up any extra shifts she could get at the diner.
    The diner Reid would never set foot in.
    Their food arrived as Reid went on about the heart health supplements he suggested to his patients. Not exactly the most interesting dinner conversation, but not the worst either.
    Still. They could use a little lightening up. Dates were supposed to be fun, weren't they? And so far, talking about their jobs wasn't really cutting it. She wanted to know about him, not his work.
    "You know what they're missing here?" Rebecca asked.
    "What's that?"
    She couldn't help but move a little in her seat to the music as she reached for another tiny plate of tapas. It had a great beat. "A place to dance. They're playing awesome music. It's a shame no one can take advantage of it." She shimmied a little more in her seat to accentuate her point.
    "I don't mind. I wouldn't want to dance anyway."
    She stopped shimmying. "Why not? You used to come to the high school dances and, if I remember correctly, it always looked like you were having fun."
    He smiled as if reliving the moment in his mind. "Remember that one time we almost got caught making out in the locker room? I thought I'd get kicked off the basketball team for sure if they found us."
    "The look on your face when we heard the door," she laughed, "was priceless. The shade of red in your cheeks was a perfect match for my red dress."
    "I loved that dress on you. You looked so sexy. It was impossible to keep my hands to myself and dance with a foot of space between us. I'd never hated chaperones more in my life than I did that night."
    She smiled at him seductively, "I could buy a new, even sexier red dress and we could go dancing again. It would