Chapter Twelve – It's a Date

"Fancy meeting you here."

Olivia didn't even need to turn around to figure out who had spoken. Instead of turning to greet Ben she threw Suvi's ball first. Suvi didn't mind foregoing a greeting to go after his ball either. With the ball in the air and Suvi after it Olivia glanced over her shoulder to smile at Ben. She found him holding a half-eaten hot dog.

"You have some ketchup," she told him as she touched the left side of her mouth.

She was halfway expecting him to use the back of his hand, but she was surprised instead. He actually used his napkin, as rumpled as it was.

"Lunch break?" she asked.

"Not much of one, but yes. I'll just have to do something decent for dinner."

"No take out for you, huh?"

"I do that enough for lunch. I'd rather cook myself a good dinner."

She raised her eyebrow in surprise. Suvi gallivanted into her legs, but she only reached down to rub his ears. This time Ben was holding her attention.

"You cook?"

"I make a mean pb and j."

Olivia laughed.

"Wow, you're a classy guy."

"You should come over some time. I'll make you dinner."

"Is pb and j on the menu?" she teased.

"Nah. I'm not going to say I'm a gourmet chef or anything, but I'm a pretty good cook."

"Impressive."

"I've lived alone for a long time. It was either start dabbling or go hungry. Of course it helped that I actually came to enjoy it."

Olivia turned away from him for a moment to throw Suvi's ball again. He had been getting a bit impatient and had started shoving his nose and the ball into her hand. There would have been no denying him for long. With that done she turned back to finish her conversation with Ben.

"Guess you'll have to make yourself something really good to make up for your pathetic lunch."

"Actually, I was hoping you would help me with that."

She blinked and looked up at him in surprise as Suvi trotted back over with his ball.

"What?"

"I was hoping you would come to dinner with me tonight. We could go somewhere. Have a good meal."

Olivia's eyes shifted down and her fingers started tracing over the fur on Suvi's head. It was a nervous habit she hadn't even realized she'd formed. There was a quiet sadness on her face that couldn't be missed despite the fact that she was looking down. Ben noticed right away and smiled sadly.

"Just friends, huh?"

To Ben her response couldn't have been clearer. As slow as he'd gone it hadn't mattered. Either he'd scared her or she hadn't been interested in the first place. There was nothing he could do about that so he would just have to accept the way things were. She would never be more to him than this.

Or so he'd thought until Olivia suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"No! That's not it." She looked down and her voice dropped to a level only a few notches about inaudible. "I'm just scared that's all you'll want when you find out the truth."

Olivia might have been worried about how Ben would respond to the news that she was disabled, but Ben was hardly concerned.

"What, you're a transgender bank robber wanted by the FBI for crimes committed in multiple states?"

Olivia was stunned, but she quickly managed to pull it all together. A smile flickered across her face as she held back a laugh.

"Hardly. It would make working with the Feds a little difficult."

"So, I don't see what the problem is."

"You're ruling out a lot of other options," she told him softly. One wrong scenario didn't make everything okay.

"I'm not worried, but go ahead. Try me."

If it were that simple she would have told him about Suvi and her disability a long time ago. Revealing all of that was hard though. It was opening herself up in a way she wasn't truly comfortable doing, and what was worse, she wouldn't be revealing anything good. She looked down and found Suvi looking back up at her. He must have sensed her unease. Suvi had helped her so much already; maybe he could help her again. She reached into the small bag she kept on her waist without a word and pulled out Suvi's vest.

"This," Olivia said quietly as she revealed the emblem.

Ben's eyes widened slightly.

"He's a service dog?"

"Yes."

"That… would definitely not have been one of my guesses." Ben looked down at Suvi and smiled. "You're even more impressive than I thought, big guy."

His eyes were dancing when he looked back up at Olivia, which was not what she had been expecting.

"I guess that means Italian might be a better option than steak. Less tempting."

"What?"

"For dinner," Ben added.

Olivia was stunned and at a complete loss for what to say. In her wildest dreams she wouldn't have received that kind of response, and she was having a hard time understanding it since it didn't make any sense. He still wanted to take her out to dinner? Why? And why hadn't he asked her why she had Suvi? It was usually the first thing people who didn't know her asked. She didn't fit the more traditional profile of a service dog owner. Simply looking at her, there didn't appear to be anything outwardly wrong most of the time.

"That's it? You're just worried about where to take me for dinner?"

"Yeah. I figure if there was something else I needed to worry about you would have already told me."

"How can you be so okay with this?"

"How could I not be? So you have a service dog, Olivia. That doesn't change who you are."

In her mind it did. Even if he was right and having a service dog didn't change her it definitely would change any relationships she ended up in. How could it not?

"Ben… of all the women out there, why me? Especially now."

"Because I love your dog," he returned with the smile she always associated with him teasing.

She rested her hand on her hip and lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, so that's not the main reason. Neither is the fact that you're gorgeous."

Olivia sighed and shook her head, a small smile on her face. Ben read her response as exactly what it was: disbelief.

"I'm serious."

"There are a lot of other women out there that would put me to shame, Ben."

Ben's eyes flickered slightly. She seriously though that? From the look on her face she did, though he couldn't see why.

"I wouldn't agree with you there, but okay. Now will you let me take you out to dinner?"

"Ben…"

"Olivia, you're smart and kind. You have this smile that lights up everything around you, when you let it. I've seen it come out every so often. Let me get to know you better. Dinner tonight."

"I still don't think this is a good choice."

"Let me make that decision. Seven o'clock. Bertrolli's. You know it?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'll meet the two of you there."

"Not everyone is as accepting of service dogs as you seem to be you know. Especially restaurants."

"They don't want Suvi there we'll take our night someplace else. You may be stubborn, but I'm not going to give in on this one."

Olivia smiled softly at him.

"Seven then."

"Great. Now I need to run or I'm going to be late." He glanced at his phone for the time. "Literally run. I'll see you tonight."

Olivia didn't get the chance to say more than a fleeting goodbye before he was gone. After he'd vanished she was still trying to process what had just happened. Finally she looked down at Suvi.

"I guess we have a date tonight, Suvi."

A date. It had been a long time since she'd been on a date. Hopefully she could still fit into one of the dresses she hadn't pulled out of her closet in ages. Despite her reservations about the evening, it would be nice to wear a dress again that wasn't completely professional. If she could find something that looked nice on of course.

Author's Note: The last upload for this round will be tomorrow. I wish I could say the next upload will come fast, like I did last time even though it didn't quite work out that way, but coaching has taken over my life. We'll just have to see what happens.