The Love Hack

Chapter 33

"I'm so going to get some intel out of him tonight!"

"That's our girl! You've become a pro at fieldwork. We're proud of you." Jason looked up at his daughter from his laptop as she stepped off the staircase. His smile widened as Lexi twirled.

"How do I look, Dad?"

"You are a vision!" He took his glasses off and set them down before calling over his shoulder to the kitchen. "Scarlett! Come in here and see your daughter!" Jason turned back to face Lexi. "Oh, before I forget Lex, I've been continuing your code to get into the blocker. Can you take a look when you get the chance tomorrow? It needs your magic touch."

"Of course, Dad. Just send it to me and I can take a look in the morning."

Scarlett appeared in the living room, wiping her hands with a dish towel. "Oh, Lex Bex! Look at you! Can I take a picture?"

"No. It's not like I'm going to prom. It's just a date." Lexi fidgeted with her silver sparkle clutch. After church that morning, she and Mindy spent the afternoon shopping and settled on a cowl neck, navy blue satin short dress that was backless. Silver gems dotted the thin straps and matched back to the clutch and silver heels.

Mindy flew down the stairs with a bottle of perfume in hand. "Wait! We forgot the final touch!" She began spraying the air and beckoning Lexi to walk through the mist. "And I can take the photo with all of you together."

"Cole! Come down for a family photo with Lexi!" Scarlett screamed up the stairs.

"Oh, my God. This doesn't need to be a big thing." Before Lexi knew it, her family was crowding around her and smiling at the back of her mother's phone.

When the doorbell rang, Mindy shrieked and nearly flung Scarlett's phone out of her hand. "He's here!"

"Okay, everyone go upstairs!" Lexi smoothed out her dress and took in a deep breath. The nerves in her stomach hadn't stopped all day leading up to the date and now that Tom was at the door, they threatened regurgitation.

"We want to say hi, though," Scarlett said and crossed her arms.

Lexi began physically pushing everyone toward the staircase. "There will be other times for that. Please, let's not make this weird." Finally, her family acquiesced and began making their way up the stairs. She took another deep breath and steadied herself before making her way to the front door.

As soon as she opened it, she couldn't contain the smile that emerged. Tom's eyes grew wide and he seemed stunned for a moment. His gaze scanned her figure and he placed a hand to his chest. "You look. Wow."

"Is that a good wow?" Lexi's smile grew even wider when Tom continued to try to find his words.

"Yes! Hell yes. You're stunning, Lexi." He nearly tripped forward when he took a step but caught himself. "Th-these are for you." He held up a bouquet of lilac, blue, and white flowers.

Never in Lexi's life would she have thought this would be her - getting prettied up for a man, and accepting flowers from said man before they went on their date. It felt like a dream but the butterflies in her stomach were a reminder that this was very much real. She took Tom in as he handed her the flowers. He cleaned up well. His hair was combed back and his white button-down was unbuttoned at the top making Lexi wish she could take a peek at more of his defined chest. "Thanks so much. That's really sweet of you to bring these. I'll just pop them in water real quick and then we can go."

Lexi set the flowers down in the kitchen and briefly heard her family whispering excitedly that Tom had gotten her flowers before making her way back out, closing the door behind her. Tom clasped her hand and led her to his car. He seemed just as nervous as she was and it somehow steadied her slightly. They were in this thing together.