Especially since he couldn’t paint much more than a stick figure.
“That’s an awesome date. I can’t believe you remembered me telling Becca that last week.”
Phew. He wanted to wipe his hand across his forehead as if he were with his daughter and did those things to get a giggle out of her.
He resisted. Barely.
Too much time around his child had him not always remembering to act like an adult.
“I’ve got an excellent memory.”
They left her house and walked to his SUV. “It’s nice,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone on dates or talked to someone and they can’t remember a thing said to them. Not even repeated.”
He was assuming it had to do with her ex. She’d said she hadn’t dated since she moved here a year ago, after her breakup. Or did dating mean more than one date?
Jesus, why hadn’t he thought of that?
Was he going to be a rebound?
Nah. It was too long for him to feel that way.
At least he was going to convince himself of that.
“I’ve been in that situation too.”
“Are we going to Laine Connors’s studio?” she asked.
“Yes. Have you been here before or done one of those sip and paint parties?”
“I haven’t,” she said. “I always wanted to though.”
He hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed. “This isn’t that. There is a room in the back where we’ll have privacy to paint a picture. No instructions or anything really. Nothing more than the basic things. It’s just about the activity. We’ve got sixty minutes.”
The studio closed at eight and it gave them time to clean up after he and Alana were done. With any luck, they could go back and relax and have a drink somewhere.
“It’s going to be fun,” she said. “I can’t wait. I should tell you that Laine is married to one of my cousins, Carson Mills. Not the same branch but the twin sister to Patricia.”
He hadn’t realized that. “Is that going to be a problem going here? I don’t believe Laine will be there. I made the arrangements with Brittany.”
“It won’t matter,” she said. “Unless it does to you? Kelsey knows about the date. She told you to ask me.”
Thankfully, she was laughing when she made that tongue-in-cheek comment. “She didn’t tell me. Not exactly. I mean, I’d been thinking of it for a while.”
“You have?”
“Yes,” he said. “Can I admit I felt like a complete cad you were at my house watching my daughter while I was on another date? I would have much rather been home with you.”
“That’s nice to hear,” she said. “I don’t feel like an idiot that I was secretly crushing on you some. More when I got to spend time with your daughter and you together. Wow, I can’t believe I just admitted that to you.”
He was happy she had.
“You got to see my embarrassing side.”
She reached her hand over. “Never feel embarrassed about prioritizing your daughter. Or giving her the attention that you do. If anyone makes a negative comment about it, then they don’t deserve you in their life.”
“Thanks. I didn’t have a father growing up. My mother was both roles to me. Out there giving my coaches hell like I always thought my father would. Having those serious man-to-man talks about puberty. It was all her. I figured if she could do those things, I can do these things.”
It just was not the life or family he’d always wanted.
