Page 39 of Finding Happily Ever After
“What?” Damon pretended to look offended. “I make this lookgood.”
Aiden chuckled as Damon hammed it up, bouncing the baby and making her laugh.
“Let me tell you a secret,” Nick said to Aiden. “It turns out that having a cute baby in your armsdoeslook good to women. The irony of it is that you’re so bloody tired all the time that you don’t even have the energy to look at a good-looking woman, let alone ask her out.”
Damon tilted his head into the conversation. “Except for one, right?”
Aiden glanced around. “Amelia’s mother?”
Nick almost choked on his laughter. “Hardly.” He shook his head and reached his arms out for the baby. “It’s complicated, man. To say the least. But the one thing that is not even remotely complicated is how I feel about this little peanut.” He kissed her forehead and looked back to the men. “I’m going to say a few good-byes and get her home. Good to meet you, Aiden. I’m sure we’ll see you around.”
He waved and, together, Damon and Aiden watched him cross the room. “He’s a good guy,” Damon said, almost to himself. “He deserves to be happy.”
“It looks like his little girl makes him pretty happy.”
Damon nodded and smiled. “She does. But…”
Aiden followed his gaze to where Nick had stopped to talk to a woman who Natalie had pointed out was Jeremy’s sister, Charlotte. “Ah,” he said. “I see. So you think she can make your friend happy?”
As if he’d been caught out, Damon quickly shook his head and turned his back to the room. “You know what? It’s none of my business. I just want my friends to be happy and however they make that happen is up to them.” He smiled, showing off a dazzling set of white teeth. “And what about you? How’s that class of yours? Is it making you happy?”
Aiden could certainly think of one thing, or more specifically, one woman, who was making himveryhappy and hopefully very soon would make them both even happier. But he was pretty sure it wasn’t appropriate to discuss the details of it all with Damon, when they hardly knew each other.
“The class is good.” He nodded, moving on to safer subject matters. “Honestly, it’s been better than I expected it to be considering I really don’t know anything about the area. The kids all have some good ideas about what they’d like to do for excursions for the rest of the year. I guess it’s easier when they’ve all grown up out here in the mountains. Hell, they can probably teach me a thing or two.”
“There’s no doubt about that.” Damon crossed his arms. “Speaking from experience, I can tell you that most of those kids will be able to show you all the best spots. But that doesn’t mean you can’t teach them a few things, too. And I think Katie and I can help you out with that, if you like?”
They’d casually mentioned helping before, but there hadn’t been a real opportunity to talk details. “I’d really like that. More than you know.”
Damon laughed. “Together, Katie and I have a ton of experience and…well, I’d really like the opportunity to donate some equipment to your program.”
Aiden shook his head. He hadn’t heard right. “Donate?”
“I know you were prepared to rent everything,” Damon continued. “But if your program has the need for it, I’d be more than happy to donate some equipment. Maybe some packs and tents for overnight treks this spring. And next winter, we can talk about snowshoes or cross-country ski gear.”
“Are you serious right now?” As a public school teacher, Aiden was always fighting for access to more funds for his classes and programs. It was an unspoken, built-in part of the job. He hadn’t even scratched the surface as to how he was going to run an expensive Outdoor Ed program with no extra funds. Not without massive fundraisers.But a donation…He didn’t even have the words.
His shock must have registered all over his face because Damon chuckled and slapped his back. “I know it’s all coming out of left field. Why don’t we talk about it properly next week? We’ll have a meeting and lay out all the details, okay?”
“I don’t even know what to say, Damon.” He shook his head, but slowly the grin slipped over his face. “This is going to make such a difference. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Damon excused himself and left Aiden alone.
This day was getting better and better. His eyes scanned the room until they found Natalie. She was laughing at something someone had said. But as if she’d sensed him watching her, she turned, the smile still on her face. Aiden could see her eyes sparkle, even from the distance they were at. She winked.
Oh yes.
As good as the day had been, it was just about to get even better.
ChapterTwelve
This timewhen Aiden unlocked his door and let her into his house, Natalie wasn’t feeling any of the nerves she’d had before. There was nothing now but excitement.
Not true.
There was also a whole lot ofneed.
