Hannah nodded. “Let’s see about the room here then.” Surprising the hell out of me, she motioned for Sage, who beamed so brightly at us that she was in competition with the candle.
“All set with dessert? Do you need a refill? Or perhaps—”
“We need the check, please.”
Sage nodded and clasped her hands against her chest. “Was your meal satisfactory?”
“It was delicious. Your lemon bars are almost as good as mine, and that’s saying something. But now we need to go.”
I cleared my throat. “About that—”
“We’re all set,” she said to Sage, covering my hand with her own to shut me up.
Sage put down the folder that contained the bill and left discreetly. As discreetly as one could while still waggling her brows and watching us over her shoulder.
I leaned forward. “What happened to asking about the room?”
“I didn’t say I’d ask. I said let’s see about the room here.” I was so busy staring at her that she had time to sign for the check with a flourish and put down her own credit card. “Which I don’t have to ask for, since I already have one and am presently checked in.” She closed the bill book and handed it to Sage, who managed to sweep by our table at the exact right instant.
“So you were dicking around with me?”
“No, I was just making sure you didn’t get a guilty conscience and confess about your wife. That usually slows someone’s roll right down. But no ring,” she said again, looking at my hand. “No tan line either. And you didn’t so much as blink when saying you didn’t live close by. Not that Syracuse is that far.”
I slid my credit card back into my wallet and said nothing. I couldn’t decide if I admired the way she was taking charge or if it pissed me off.
“I’m sorry, did your sweet, unassuming lay just change into something more challenging? Having second thoughts?”
“Hell, no. But you’re not the only one who isn’t sweet all the time.” I didn’t have to fake the growl in my voice.
Clearly, she had more levels than were readily apparent just below the surface. She wasn’t the only one.
“Glad to hear it. Because Tinder dates really aren’t doing it for me.”
The growl was back again, although this time it never left my chest. The sound rumbled there as if I was a disgruntled bear. “You use those apps?”
She gave a dainty shrug. “Hard to meet suitable men nowadays. I never felt comfortable enough to just sit down at someone’s table.” She tilted her head.
For a second, I was sure she was going to smile. And denied.
“If you want something, you need to go out and get it. That’s my life motto.”
Or it was, before my business started to crumble thanks to new technologies and changing times. Also before a beautiful brown-eyed baby with red curls fell into my lap.
Literally.
“Time goes by too fast to deal with regrets.” I was thinking of Billy now, and how quickly—and unexpectedly—he’d lost his life. He’d had so much ahead of him. So many years to spend with his little girl.
Now I was tasked with standing in for him, and somehow making him proud. That mantle weighed heavy on my shoulders, even heavier than keeping the business afloat. At least with the business I had some idea what I was doing, even amidst the changes in the industry.
With Lily? Clue-fucking-less.
“And I’m something you wanted?” Hannah asked quietly.
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“I didn’t even see you looking my way.”
“You were to wrapped up in that book.” I tapped the cover with my thumb. “Diary, is it?”