Magical Midlife Dating (Leveling Up 2)

“Don’t mind him,” I told Ron, the lies coming faster now. “He’s an MMA fighter.” I said over my shoulder, “I said thanks. You can go now.”

I barely caught Cedric shaking his head as he turned away. Movement by the door caught my attention before I could turn back—Alek. His stare was on Ron, too, his threat just as plain.

“My other cousin. They’re—”

Mr. Tom’s head leaned into the frame of the window, the shades not pulled, sadly. A bowler hat covered his head, wire-rimmed glasses circled his eyes, and the collar of his trench coat was turned up, partially obscuring his face.

Ron’s head turned slowly until he locked eyes with Mr. Tom.

After one tense beat, Mr. Tom slowly leaned back out of the window frame.

“I, uh…” What the hell could I say about that one? “My family is…odd.”

Ron’s head turned back. He dropped his hands into his lap, moving ever so slowly as if worried a fast movement might summon one of my “cousins.”

Gritting my teeth, I turned long enough to frantically wave Cedric and Alek away, then gave Ron a large, hopefully calming smile. “I’m so sorry about that. They’re just…”

“Protective?” Ron asked, his gaze flicking toward the door before he glanced the other way, probably looking to see if Mr. Tom was peeping at us again.

“I was going to say overbearing. My…cousins only got here tonight. They haven’t really acclimated yet.”

“You’re kind of old to have younger cousins scaring your dates, aren’t you? I mean, that’s something for teenagers.” He gave a humorless laugh, playing it off as a joke, clearly having no idea how deeply those words stung. He dropped his napkin on his plate before blowing out a breath. “Are they going to be waiting outside with a shotgun, too?”

I could hear the tremor in his voice. I could see the unease written plainly on his face. They’d shaken him, he clearly wasn’t used to it, and he was trying to make light of it.

“Honestly, I’m really sorry. I’d asked my friend—my female friend—to drop off my bag. They’re just acting up, honest. They’re young and dumb and bored.”

“That’s fine, but the creepy dude in the window—”

“You aren’t going to believe this, but…he’s a butler. He basically came with the house.”

Ron’s look was fixed and unflinching. The blinking was his tell—I should’ve gone with Mr. Tom being my uncle. But honestly, if he ever visited Ivy House, he’d know the term uncle didn’t line up.

“He was like a caretaker for the old place, and I felt bad firing him,” I added quickly as Ron made a sign for the check.

“Oh, gotcha. And…he…hangs out with your cousins, or…?”

Crap. “He probably just wanted to make sure they handed over my clutch.”

“Ah.” He nodded, reaching for the check when it came.

“Oh, here.” I smiled as I held up the clutch. “Just in time, huh?”

“I got it.” He slipped his card into the leather folder and pushed the whole lot to the edge of the table. “I don’t want your cousins to break my legs or something.” His smile was strained.

I couldn’t think of any other way to apologize or explain, and even if I did, it seemed like he wasn’t going to come back from whatever he was feeling. If he couldn’t handle the new guys, how would he ever handle Austin?

“So…been online dating long?” I asked, leaning back in my chair, knowing when to throw in the towel.

“Not very seriously. I got out of a long relationship last year, and…” He shrugged. “Where do you start again, you know?”

“I do know. I’m recently divorced after twenty years. I’m in a new town, in a new house—a creepy one for funsies…” He laughed. “I didn’t know where to start, either. Online dating seemed like the logical place.”

“Except it is a minefield of crazy.”

“Yes!” I put out my hands to him as the waitress whisked the bill away. “You’re only my second date. The first guy… Well, that was a disaster. He set up a profile from yesteryear, and surprise! Basically a different guy.”

Ron laughed. “I’ve had a few of those. Or women who say they are athletic and outdoorsy, so you make a date to hike only to realize they have an ailment they didn’t tell you about, and suddenly your fun date is not possible. So you scramble.”

“But why didn’t she tell you that hiking was a no?”

“I do not know.” He laughed as the bill came back and he left the tip. “Shall we?”

“I had him meet me at the bar,” I said as I got up. “Apparently that made me suspect.”

“Oh, the one downtown?” He stood up too but waited for me to go first.

“No, the one up the way? The Paddy Wagon?”

“Oh wow, you chose that one for a first date?” He shook his head and stalled at the front. When I gave him a confused frown, he gestured to the coat rack. “Don’t you have something to wrap up in?”