Thanks for all your reviews and your wonderful encouragement. Things this week have been hectic so getting this chapter up has been a bit of a challenge. I'm sorry that it's shorter than most of the recent chapters. I'll try to make it up to you with a longer chapter soon. Please enjoy!

32. Date Night!

On Friday, I met with the marketing team to brainstorm some ideas for my project. By the time we stopped for lunch, we had several ideas that we wanted to pursue. Mock-ups would be made and some basic graphics would be designed. I would have the honour of doing one myself. It was a little advanced for my skills but Daisy, the lead graphic designer promised to help. She promised to teach me whatever I needed to know to finish this project and to give me tips and recommendations for future projects.

I was extremely grateful to Daisy and when we went to lunch, we talked about what I could do to improve my techniques. She was very helpful and even suggested a few courses that I could look into at college the following year. I knew that my course load was already pretty heavy so I wasn't sure how to split my focus. I really enjoyed the creative aspects of graphic design, but the structure and mathematics of accounting also appealed to me greatly.

After lunch, I spent some time reviewing the FBI case. I did this in a small meeting room to ensure that the documents were not viewed by anyone other than me. I didn't want to break any confidentiality rules or anything.

I decided to take a different approach to how I reviewed the documents the last time, to see if I noticed anything new. After an hour, I came to the exact same conclusion I did the first time I looked at the case. The suspect was laundering money by selling non-existent snacks. I chuckled to myself at how easy this case was and how blind the FBI was to overlook something so obvious.

I suddenly started to doubt myself. The FBI wouldn't have overlooked something that obvious would they? Maybe there was more that I wasn't seeing. I pulled out the report again and then fired up the FBI laptop that I carried around with me for these cases. I plugged in my user credentials and then searched by the case id. I pulled up a spreadsheet and then got comfortable, before reviewing the digital data.

After another hour, I had found 3 other discrepancies. Not only was he selling non-existent food, he was paying out more in wages than it was possible for his staff to work. One particular staff member was scheduled to work in two different areas at the same time. I cross-referenced the staff member's financials and it didn't add up. I also noticed that the wages that were being claimed were not the wages that were being paid. He was underpaying his staff.

So far, I'd found discrepancies with the food, staff and wages. I didn't see anything else so I decided to shut everything down around 4:30. I would take another look next week. It was a little earlier than my usual quitting time but I had been working extra hours this week. Leaving now would give me just over 2 hours to get ready for my date with Carlos tonight. It meant that I could take a relaxing bath and then take my time with my hair and makeup. I called up to let Amanda know that I was leaving and headed home when she said it was fine with her.

I had a relaxing bath and spent a long time making sure that my legs were smooth and moisturised. I added styling cream to my hair and then spent about 30 minutes with the diffuser on my blow dryer. I was happy with the result but the time it took made it impossible for a day-to-day hairstyle. It was worth the time for this special occasion though. I wanted something subtle and flawless with my makeup. I did a smoky natural eye look and added a nice neutral pink lip stick and gloss combo.

I got dressed and was just fastening the buckles on my low-heeled sandals when my phone rang to indicate that Carlos was downstairs. I buzzed him up and then grabbed my handbag before meeting him at the door. When he walked into my apartment, I lost all train of thought. I stood there staring at him appreciating the view. Carlos was wearing a dark brown suit that looked like it was custom made just for him. He was also wearing a crisp cream shirt and a dark brown matching tie.

He stared at me in my simple forget-me-not patterned sundress. He shook his head and said, "God, Babe, you look amazing. I just had an internal struggle as to whether to escort you down to the car or to pick you up and carry you into the bedroom."

Carlos smiled sheepishly and I blushed. I guess he made his decision because he held out his hand and took my bag so I could lock my apartment door. We walked hand-in-hand down to the car and drove to the restaurant in relative silence. Carlos wanted the restaurant to be a surprise, so the only way I could stop asking for hints was to stop talking altogether. I think Carlos understood because he seemed to fall into a zone of some sort as he drove.

When Carlos pulled into the parking lot of one of the most exclusive and raved about restaurants in New Jersey, I was shocked. Carlos smiled at the stunned expression on my face and said, "Our friend Alejandro knows the owner here. He helped me get a reservation."

I nodded and gulped as Carlos helped me out of the car and then wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me close as we walked inside. The hostess looked at Carlos and smiled politely when he said that he had a reservation for two. She looked at me but instead of looking me up and down and then scowling, she smiled and welcomed me as well. It was a departure from normal for me. I was so used to being treated like the enemy when women got a look at Carlos.

We were led to our table and the hostess wished us a nice and relaxing meal. She told us that our server would be by to take our drinks order shortly. When a middle-aged man approached our table a few moments later, I breathed a sigh of relief. Carlos must have heard me because he chuckled. His chuckle however, was cut off very quickly when the server came forward and fawned all over Carlos. He was polite to me, but it was clear that he had his eye on Carlos.

As the server walked away with our drinks order, I giggled and said, "This place is definitely rating high in my books so far. The Hostess was nice to me and the waiter may be flirting with you, but he's not being rude to me."

Carlos groaned and said, "Why can't we have a night out where one of us isn't uncomfortable?"

I giggled and said, "Just ignore him. He's only at our table for a few moments and then he's gone. If we focus on each other, everything else is just noise."

Carlos nodded and we talked about the plans for the rest of the weekend. The gang would arrive tomorrow afternoon and leave before 3:30 on Sunday afternoon. Carlos and I would then clean up and head to his parents for dinner. I was hoping to arrive at the Manosos around 5 so we could visit with everyone before dinner.

Carlos and I had a very lovely meal. The restaurant specialised in seafood dishes and we took our times with each course, making sure to talk and spend as much time with each other as possible. We shared a seafood platter and then Carlos had some chicken and I had lobster pasta with a garlic and cream sauce. It was delicious and based on the looks that Carlos was throwing in my direction, I was being very vocal about my appreciation for my meal.

We even had dessert. Carlos had a teeny tiny pot of Crème brûlée and I had a very large chocolate lava cake. I didn't realise until I questioned Carlos about the small size of his dessert that he ordered the sampler for himself and the regular size for me. I felt a little guilty that he had such a small dessert, but he didn't seem to mind. He quoted something about fat and sugar but I was enjoying my dessert too much to take much notice.

After the food was cleared away, Carlos led me out to the dance floor. There were a few other couples, but we were lost in our own little world. Carlos held me tight and hummed along with a few of the songs. The vibration of his humming seemed to go right through me and it was very appealing. We danced until my feet could hold me no longer. I was wearing relatively comfortable shoes, but 2 hours of non-stop dancing wouldn't be easy on anyone's feet.

Carlos led me back to the table and flagged down our waiter. We each ordered a coffee and took a bit of time to enjoy more conversation and to catch our breath. When we finished our drinks, the waiter brought our bill. Carlos insisted on paying and then he led me out of the restaurant holding my hand in his. The Hostess wished us a good night as we passed by the front desk. Once outside, Carlos turned me towards him and kissed me. After pulling back for air, he said, "I've wanted to do that all evening."

I took his hand and pulled him towards the car. Once inside, I smiled, leaned in and kissed him back. I have no idea how long we stayed locked in each other's arms, but it must have been a long while. The parking lot was mostly full when we came out and now it was nearing empty. We were so caught up in each other that the world around us slipped away. I looked at the clock and saw that it was nearing midnight. Carlos laughed and said, "Let's get you home, Babe. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day and we need our rest."

I nodded and sat back to fasten my seatbelt. My lips and the rest of me were still humming from that kiss. It was like my entire body was on fire. The trip back to my apartment seemed to take forever. All I wanted to do was to pick up from where we left off, if we ever got there. I looked up and noticed that we were driving in the wrong direction. I looked over at Carlos and could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong.

"Carlos, why are we driving the wrong way home? What's wrong?"

Carlos glanced at me and then back at the road and took a deep breath. When he spoke, his voice was a lot huskier than usual. "I'm trying to calm myself down. If we had gone straight back to your apartment, I'm not sure I would have been very gentlemanly towards you. You had me so riled up that I would have had a hard time hearing you if you wanted me to stop. I just need to cool off a little before we head back."

I nodded and realised that Carlos was as affected by that kiss as I was. The difference was that he still was able to think where I was completely caught up in the moment and my brain seemed to be switched off. I smiled and realised how grateful I was to Carlos for thinking like this. If we had gone back to my apartment, we'd have ended up in bed together and taking our relationship to the next level. Now that I thought about it, maybe I wasn't quite ready for that.

Carlos finally pulled into the parking garage at 12:30. He parked the car and helped me out of the car. We rode up the elevator in silence and then I unlocked my door. I was a bit scared and a bit disappointed. Is that normal? It's not like it was a bullet I was dodging by Carlos being a gentleman. I decided to think about things a little more when I had a chance.

Once inside my apartment, we each went to separate bathrooms to get ready for bed. I washed off my makeup and dressed in a boring two-piece pyjama set. By the time I exited the bathroom, Carlos was already beneath the covers. He smiled at me and I crawled into bed beside him. I kissed him gently on the lips and cuddled up close to him. I said, "Thanks for tonight Carlos. I had a wonderful time. I also want to thank you for the little detour we took on the way home. After having time to think about it, I'm still not sure if I'm ready."

Carlos pulled me close and whispered his reply in my ear. "I know you're not Babe. That's exactly why I did what I did. I didn't trust myself not to screw things up and that's the last thing I want to do. Things for us will be hard enough when I leave for the army. I don't want to start making major mistakes now."

I smiled and cuddled closer to Carlos and said, "Goodnight Carlos."

Carlos kissed me on the hair and replied, "Night, Babe."

Goodness me, will Step ever be ready? Part of me hopes not so I can avoid writing smut, but that just wouldn't be true to these characters. They have to get it on sometime soon. Maybe I can pull a JE when Ranger collected on the DeChooch deal!

Thanks for reading and the next chapter will be up at its regularly scheduled time.