Page 4 of Small Town Daddy

"Well," Marie lowered her voice conspiratorially, "turns out he's been having a torrid affair with Mrs. Peterson from the library. Her husband caught them in the romance section!"

I nearly choked on my drink. "No way!"

Marie nodded gleefully. "Way. The whole town's been buzzing about it for weeks."

As Marie launched into more tales of small-town drama, I felt the knot in my chest start to loosen. The laughter bubbling up surprised me—I couldn't remember the last time I'd genuinely laughed like this.

After a particularly ridiculous story involving the mayor and a runaway goat, Marie's expression turned sly. "So, Lucy . . . how’s your love life? Last I heard you were about to marry some biker?”

It actually took me a moment.

“Ohhhhhh, you mean Brock! No, no, no, he was like, five boyfriends ago.”

“You’ve had five boyfriends in the past two years.”

“No! Way more than five. I’ve had fiveseriousboyfriends in the past two years.”

She gave me a disbelieving smile.

“Damn, you put me to shame.”

“Yep. I’ve got a kind of problem,” I said, sheepishly. “I’m not a sex addict—I’m an intimacy addict.”

“What’s that?”

“I basically fall in love within two seconds of meeting someone.”

She chuckled. “That sounds exhausting.”

“I can’t help it. I completely ignore all the bad aspects someone has and see only the good stuff. Then, normally after a couple of weeks, that wears off.”

“So are you with anyone right now?”

“Actually, no. When dad died, I split up with Tobias—he was a German performance poet; donotrecommend—and decided not to date anyone for a whole year.”

“A year?”

“Yep. I’m on detox.”

“I’ll bet you a hundred bucks you date someone while you’re back here!” There was a gleam in her eye.

“I’ll take that bet. There’s no way. I’m too emotional to even consider it. Plus, I know everyone in town, and there’s no-one—”

“Not even Marcus Wilkins?”

My breath caught in my throat.

Well, obviously Marcus Wilkins. The lava-hot hardware store owner was about the sexiest man I’d ever met. He had been a major childhood crush of mine. Of course, he was a clear ten years older than me, and would never be interested in a silly little girl like me. I was in no danger of dating him.

“No chance.”

“So you’re not interested? I hear he’s freshly divorced and on the lookout.”

“Freshly divorced?” I was suddenly laser-focused.

“Mmhmm. Quite . . . messy.”

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help laughing. "Not this time, Mar. I'm here to focus, no distractions."

---