I smile at his words; they make me feel both accepted and understood. Mike is more than meets the eye, and when I see this gaze, it feels like that sentiment is mutual.
I absorb the information he shared about his ex and try to process just who he is. He is sexy and confident but also bruised in places you can't see from the surface. He's been hurt too, and when he looks at me and I swear to God we could heal one another's wounds. Maybe that is crazy talk when it comes to a man I just met... but Mike is not like anyone else.
"Listen," I tell him, and I can tell the mood has shifted between us. "I don't care what you do for a living. I was just trying to say that I'm not looking to settle into something. I'm hoping to be moving within the next few months."
He gives me that arrogant grin, leaning on the window of my car. "In that case, we have the next few weeks to have a little fun, right? No strings. Just--"
I cut him off. "Fuck buddies?"
He laughs. "Call it what you want, Cutie-pie. Just go out with me. Tomorrow night."
"Fine." I shake my head, trying to shake off the disbelief.
"Wow, all I get is fine?" But he smiles. "I'll take it."
Then he kisses me, his hands in my hair, his mouth hot, his lips melting into mine. It takes my breath away. When he pulls away, it's too soon.
I want more.
He must see the desire in my eyes.
"Tomorrow at seven? At the pub downtown?"
I can't quite believe he wants to see me again, but I would be lying if I said it didn't give me a rush of excitement at the prospect. And when I look in his eyes and only see sincerity, it seals the deal.
Nodding, I answer, "It's a date."
Chapter 5
Mike
Millie usually does the after-school pick-up for me, but she has a doctor’s appointment today. She's six months pregnant and I know sooner than later I need to look in to hiring a nanny. Millie says she'll help me find one; that I shouldn't rush things.
I laugh when she says things like that, considering she and my brother Mox were living together a few weeks after they met.
No judgment though, I guess sometimes when you know, you know. All day, as I was working at the shop, I couldn't wipe that smug grin off my face. Tonight, I get to go out with Clementine.
Millie offered to put Louisa to bed for me, and I thank God for that. Last night, when I came to pick LuLu up, I told her I was going on a date. She wanted to know all the details.
"Just a woman who came into the shop," I tell her.
Mox laughed, giving me a hard time. "She came in the shop?" he asked before taking a long pull from his beer.
Millie shot him a glare. "You can't talk like that, Louisa is in the other room. You need clean up your mouth before this baby comes."
I just laughed. Millie may be bossy, but Moxon is hardheaded. It’s like they each met their match.
I'm already jumping the gun in a hundred different ways. It's just impossible to not think about the Clementine that way.
I plan on telling her tonight about Louisa. Of course, she needs to know. Louisa is my whole world. And I plan on spending lots of time with Clementine over the next few weeks. She may think she's headed out of town, but that's just because she doesn't seem to understand how special she is to me.
I don't date. My brother, Mox, was always a bigger playboy than me. I was tied down with Louisa, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean that in an I got the girl I was dating pregnant and have always been a single daddy way.
Her mama was never around long enough to offer moral support, and frankly, her track record doesn't exactly give me a reason to trust Louisa in her care.
It's a cold hard truth, but my job as a father is to protect my little girl.
I hope someday, things will be different between mother and daughter, but not now when Louisa is the tender age of six.
I pull my Chevy into the school parking lot and head towards Louisa's class. The bell has just rung, and the kids are running all around, jumping on buses and shouting, finally free of the classroom. It's a beautiful day. School is out in a few weeks and the sun is shining. Everyone is antsy for summer.
Louisa will spend most of the summer at the YMCA's day camps, and I hope she won't mind being there too much. I'll take time off to get in a few trips with my little girl. We'll go fishing at our favorite lake and camp out by the ocean. There's a beach Louisa loves more than anything else, full of tidal pools, sea stars, and crabs hiding in under big rocks.