"This is better than any restaurant anyway," Mary told him with a smile. "We don't have to pretend to be normal people." Because that was the last thing they were, and normal was the last thing this thing between them was.

"Nervous," Mary said in reply to his question. "I... have actually never been on a date before." She'd gone out with men occasionally but it had generally been a few minutes of talking before going back to someone's bed. That wasn't really a date. "So we're both in the deep end here."