She frowned. But then a thought gave her momentary hope. “What train do you take, Hunter?”
“I drove here. But I’m staying in Manhattan. I can drop you ladies on the way to my sublet.”
I said, “No, thank you” at the same moment Izzy said, “That’d be great.”
Both looked at me with pouts. I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Traffic should be moving by now anyway.”
The car ride was surprisingly quiet. Izzy put her headphones on in the backseat and fell asleep ten minutes into the ride, probably wiped out from playing basketball with Hunter for so long. Hunter looked lost in thought, and I struggled with my own thoughts as I looked out the window. Namely, while the idea of getting involved with this man was very tempting, I was in no way ready for a relationship. I also needed to keep my focus on the important things—my career and stepdaughter.
As we crossed the bridge back into Manhattan, Hunter broke the comfortable silence. “Your family is great.”
Knowing his mother and brother were deceased, I felt his words in my chest, and it made me appreciate what normally annoys the crap out of me. “Yeah, they are. But don’t tell them I said that.”
Hunter smiled and spoke quietly. “I hope you don’t mind my coming to the game Tuesday night. I played ball in college. She’s really good, and I didn’t know how to say no.”
“No, not at all. It’s really sweet of you.”
After a few more minutes, he said, “Those plans you mentioned having after the game, would those be the same plans Izzy mentioned at dinner that involve a guy named Marcus?”
I nodded. “One and the same.”
“First date?”
“Second.”
Again he went quiet. Eventually, he said, “Poor bastard.”
My brows drew down. “What? Who?”
“Marcus. Probably had a nice first date. Won’t understand why you’re so distant on the second one and never accept a third. Will think he did something wrong.”
“What are you talking about?”
Hunter shrugged. “You’ll be busy thinking of me on your date Tuesday night. Poor bastard won’t even know what hit him.”
“You’re so full of yourself.”
Even though Izzy was sleeping with headphones on, he leaned in close to whisper, “Maybe. But soon you’ll be full of me, too.”
Chapter 12
Natalia
I spent a ridiculous amount of time getting ready so I looked good for my date after the game tonight. It had nothing to do with the man who was going to be at the game. I repeat, nothing to do with Hunter Delucia.
Marcus was a great guy. Good job—a web developer for a prominent local utility company. Polite—opened my car door and pulled my seat out at dinner on our first date. Nice looking—medium height, medium build, maybe twenty pounds to lose. But who didn’t have an extra twenty to lose when they hit their thirties?
I hated that the answer to that question came as a visual way too readily available in my mind. Hunter didn’t have an extra twenty to lose, that’s who.
I took one last look in the mirror. My red skirt was the brightest of reds. It wasn’t short, yet it managed to pull off sexy because of the way it hugged my curves without being slutty tight. I’d coupled it with a simple, black button-up blouse that had feminine, capped sleeves and a pair of sandals that had heels, but weren’t too inappropriate for attending a high school basketball game before my date.
When I arrived at the gym in Izzy’s school, the game hadn’t started yet, but Hunter was already seated in the stands. He stood when I went to join him and pulled me in for an innocent kiss on the cheek. Although there wasn’t anything innocent about what I felt when near this man.
“You look gorgeous.”
“Thank you.”
Hunter grumbled. “Poor bastard.”