Midlife Valentine: A Later in Life Single Mom Romance

I nodded and ignored the anxiety in the pit of my stomach. It was just a date, no need to be nervous. I already knew Trey, he was fun and easy to be around. “Ready.”

“It’s all right to be nervous, you know.” He grabbed my hand and we walked down to the street where his car sat, freshly washed. “I’m not impervious to a little anxiety.”

“You seem so calm on the surface.”

He laughed again and helped me into the passenger seat. “That’s because if you show weakness as a model, the others will eat you alive and hide your carcass.” His eyes sparkled as he shut the door and walked in long, confident strides around the car to the driver’s side.

“That’s not true,” I insisted as the car began to move. “You’re making that up.”

“Nope. The photographers will try to get more out of you than was agreed to, and the models will decimate your confidence until you make a mistake so big they get to be the center of the shots.”

“Wow, that sounds brutal.”

His chuckle was low and deep, silky smooth. “It is until you learn how to hide it all like a pro.” He fell into a contemplative silence for a long minute before our gazes connected. “Is this your first date with a man other than your husband?”

“Yep. And I’m not nervous. See?” I held up my shaking hand with a laugh. “Totally cool.”

Trey grabbed my hand and kissed it. “That’s just because I’m so hot I make you nervous. I give you butterflies. I make your heart flutter.”

“Trey,” I laughed, grateful that he didn’t tell me there was no reason for my nervousness. “Stop.” I clutched my side, aching from laughter.

“Sorry,” he said with fake contrition and one hand over his heart. “I’m embarrassing you.”

The restaurant Trey chose for dinner was nice. It was nicer than anything available in Carson Creek aside from Dark Horse, and I was secretly thrilled he’d chosen someplace a little more private. “I’ve never been here before.”

“Never?” Trey shook his head. “You grew up around here, right?”

“Yeah, but whenever we went out it was usually to Nashville.”

“That’s a long drive for date night.” We were seated in a romantic, high-backed booth that offered a lot of privacy. Maybe too much for a first date. “I’d make it for you, but tonight I want you all to myself.”

I rolled my eyes even as my cheeks flamed with heat. “Sweet talker.”

“Truth talker,” he shot back and wiggled his eyebrows. “Everything looks so good, does it make me seem cheap if I suggest we share the sample platter?”

His words pulled another laugh from me. “Not at all. Do you care if you seem cheap?”

“No,” he admitted. “Unless you don’t admire frugality in a man?”

Trey was charming, and I could see throughout dinner that he was also a genuine guy, charming and funny to his core. It wasn’t an act, which made it harder to resist his flirtations, his smiles and soft caresses from across the table. He was completely and totally irresistible, and I was in danger, major danger, of falling for a younger man.

“Did I lose you?”

“No,” I smiled. “I was just thinking that I might have misjudged you Trey.”

An innocent smile lit up his handsome face. “You’re a mom Val, it’s important that you be sure about a man before you let him get too close.”

And there went another little piece of my heart. “You can’t be real.”

Trey laughed and leaned across the table to take my hands in his. “Oh, I’m real all right. Wanna find out how real?”

Hell yes. “Maybe?”

“Dessert,” he asked with heat darkening his eyes to black.

“To go?”

“Absolutely,” he growled and signaled for our waiter to bring the check.

The drive back to Carson Creek was filled with tension, thick, hot sexual tension that filled every spare inch of the car.

“Is this crazy?”

“Completely,” he agreed, voice thick with arousal. “The way I feel about you, the way that I want you, is crazy.”

“Because we’re so different?”

“No,” he smiled and reached for my hand. “Because I’ve never felt this way before.”

Oh hell, that was the last thing I needed to hear, but God help me, because I really wanted to hear it. Again.

“Trey.” His name was the last word spoken between us until we got home, well to my place because the babysitter was at Trey’s house with our girls.

“Just go with it,” he whispered and pressed his body against mine, leaving me trapped between his hardness and the door. His mouth brushed against mine and electricity exploded throughout my body, like little fireworks. His hands slid up my sides, stopping for a brief moment to cup my breasts before they continued the journey up to my neck and my face. He held me like I was precious, like I was a treasure.