Would I like to settle down one day? Sure, the idea seems nice, but I just don’t know if it will ever happen. But even if I wanted to, I’m not ready to date. I have people I need to take care of that need my undivided attention. There’s none left to go to anyone else.
“You want some ice cream?” I ask her, gesturing to the small ice cream truck ahead. The ice cream truck looking like something out of the fifties, tattered, and its paint chipping off. She doesn’t answer, but keeps walking, which I’ll take as a yes. “What flavor do you want?” I ask her.
She cocks her head at me. “You’re going to order something weird, aren’t you?”
“What’s your idea of weird?”
She scans my face, finally letting out a small breath, almost sounding like an actual laugh. “You just look like the type that orders mint ice cream.”
How the hell? “Hey, don’t knock it ‘till you try it,” I tell her, watching as she grimaces.
“I knew it. How can you like that flavor? It tastes of toothpaste.”
My chest shakes with a laugh. “I don’t get why everyone says that. It doesn’t taste of toothpaste.” Seriously? What is it with the mint ice cream hate?
“What else should I know about you?” she asks. “Any dead bodies? Crazy ex-girlfriends? Maybe a scandal?”
“Nothing,” I say, heading toward the older lady in the truck. She smiles when we approach her, like I’m one of few customers, and it caves my chest in. “I’m perfectly normal.”
“You know I could just look you up, and I’d know everything I needed to know about you.”
I shake my head. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
“So you do have a dark past?”
“No,” I affirm. “I just don’t want you to see the lies the press spread about me.”
She’s quiet for a moment, but then she lets out a breath. “I guess I’m one of them now, right? A lie.”
My brows knit together, hating how that sounds.
“What can I get for you today?” I turn my head to the lady smiling down at us from inside her truck.
“Mint chocolate chip, please.” I catch the way Madeline grimaces at my order.
“Cherry deluxe. Thank you,” Madeline says, flashing her a smile I’ve never seen directed at me. It’s a good thing, really. Because fuck, it’s a nice smile.
I shake my head with a laugh. “Seriously?” I ask her. “You gave me a hard time about choosing mint, and you pick cherry?” I breathe out a laugh. “That’s got to be the worst flavor.”
“Don’t judge my ice cream preference,” she says, shooting me a glare.
I let out a laugh, pulling out my wallet to pay for the ice cream, leaving a hefty tip that she gasps at. She’s got to be older than my mom, and she’s on her feet all day in a small ass truck. The least I could do was make her day.
I shoot her a smile, thanking her for the ice cream before we head to the park. It’s quiet today, being a Monday. Not a lot of people around, which is good if this is going to work. I’m not sure how Madeline would react to fans coming up to us, asking for pictures, or wanting to talk.
But when I turn my gaze to hers, she’s frowning at me. “You didn’t have to do that,” she says.
“Do what?”
“Pay for me,” she elaborates. “I can pay for myself.”
“I know that,” I say, furrowing my brows. “It wasn’t a big deal.” I didn’t even think twice about it, but I’m not about to argue about a five-dollar ice cream.
“I don’t want to owe you,” she says, holding out her ice cream.
What the fuck?
“Owe me?” I repeat, letting out a laugh, but when I see the serious look on her face, I realize she isn’t joking. “Madeline, you don’t owe me anything,” I assure her. I watch as her scowl dissipates, her eyes softening. I swear they get bigger the more she looks at me. “Not now or ever. If I ever decide to do something for you, no matter what it is, I don’t expect anything back.”
