“Forget what?” He flashed her a grin and brought his wine glass to his mouth.
“Thank you. But that’s enough about me and my dysfunctional ex. What about you?”
His laughter died. Oh, no. She’d done it again. Open mouth, insert foot. “Sorry.”
“No need to be. Mariana’s mom died when she was five. I was overseas at the time.”
With just a few words, she was reminded of why her interest in Alex and his hazel eyes had to be strictly Mariana-related.
“My parents moved to town and helped out a lot after that. When I had trips. It takes a village and all. That was, until I got transferred to Ft. Dunwoody. They didn’t want to leave Georgia. But the move was the right one for me and Mariana.”
Cameron tried unsuccessfully to stifle a sigh. She had no regrets getting to know Alex and Mariana for Lizzie’s sake, but that had to be it. Yet Alex wasn’t looking at her like just a parent.
Boomer darted onto the porch behind her, his huge body barreling into her legs and shoving her. Right into Alex’s arms. “I’m sorry. Again. I should just draft a blanket apology to auto-send in my messenger app. I seem to be saying it to you all the time.”
“There’s nothing to be worried about.” Alex’s gaze said it all. He was definitely looking at her tonight as more than a fellow parent.
How had she gotten herself into this situation? Oh yeah. She hadn’t. Lizzie had. Cameron picked up her wine glass. Shoot, empty. And after her ungraceful snort, she wasn’t about to risk more wine. Now she just had to find a way to ignore her growing attraction. Thankfully, she was saved from further embarrassment when the girls threw open the back door. “Mom, can Mariana sleep over tonight?”
Lizzie knew better than to ask for a sleepover in front of the other girl. Cameron would add that to the long list of things to discuss with her daughter later. “Lizzie, it’s a school night. That’s not a good idea. We’ll set something up for the two of you very soon.”
Lizzie’s face fell. “Do you promise?”
“I promise.”
Alex turned. “On that note, we should probably be going. Mariana, how about you grab a couple of dishes and we’ll help clean up before we go?”
Josh had never helped with dishes. He was always on the run, grabbing a bite between activities rather than sitting down for a family dinner. Not only had Alex sat through the entire meal, he’d engaged her and the girls in conversation, and he was now offering to help with the dishes. What in the heck was she doing telling herself not to like this guy? She should be grabbing hold of him with both hands. If only he wasn’t in the military and likely to travel out of town for long periods of time.
Instead of reaching for Alex, she threw her arm around Lizzie’s shoulder. “That’s not necessary. We have our own bus person and dishwasher right here. It’s the least she can do tonight for bringing you out under false pretenses.”
“As long as you’re sure.”
She nodded and squeezed Lizzie’s shoulder as her daughter tried to escape. “Absolutely.”
He pulled out his phone. “Let me give you my number. You can use it to arrange that sleepover. And the next time we think the girls are up to something, we can check in with each other so we don’t get hoodwinked again.”
His reasoning was sound. It was a good thing one of them was using logic. Because she was too focused on fighting her attraction to think straight.
As soon as she escorted Alex and Mariana out the front door and closed it behind them, she sank to the floor. Dinner had worn her out, but it was more the emotional confusion that Alex stirred up than anything else. Turmoil that she needed to avoid.
“Are you mad, Mommy?”
She opened her eyes to find her sweet daughter looking at her, her head tilted. That little gesture was what had attracted Cameron to Josh in the first place. She pointed toward the sofa. “On the couch. Now.”
She’d never seen Lizzie move so fast.
Cameron drew in a deep breath. Lizzie hadn’t intended anything malicious when she’d dreamed up this scheme, so addressing the issue with anger wouldn’t do the situation any good. “What were you thinking?”
“I just… I…”
The spinning wheels in her daughter’s head were almost audible. She fiddled with her hair and looked anywhere but at Cameron. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to have dinner with Mariana. And I thought her dad was nice and that you’d have fun if he came, too.”
Daggone it. When Lizzie put it like that, it didn’t sound so bad. But she couldn’t put a stamp of approval on any sneaking around. Her daughter had obviously known this was no innocent mistake. “All of that is fine, but why did you lie to me and Mariana’s dad?”
“I didn’t think you’d agree if I asked you.”
“Why not?”