He could tell just from her voice that she wasn't mad, and that was an honest rush of relief. It was temporary though, because he knew he had some topics to broach in this phone call that had every chance of leading to anger. Or, well. Disappointment, if nothing else.
"Yeah," Steve agreed, "I am. I... listen, I've got some things I need to talk to you about, but before I get to those, I want you to know I had a real nice time, taking you out." He let his voice grow warmer, fonder, because that was a true statement. "That was... I think that evening with you was the best time I've had in years, maybe ever." And it had been so nice, which made Steve feel all the more terrible about the fact that he was probably going to ruin it for them once again.