Page 78 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“Oh sh—shoot.” I jumped up and handed him a napkin. I stopped before wiping it up myself. Or worse—asking him to take it off so I could wash it. “Sorry about that.”

“No big deal.”

He really did seem like it wasn’t a big deal, but his shirt was light-colored and I didn’t want it to stain. I went to the kitchen and wet a towel with a little soap, then handed it to him when I returned.

“Thanks.” He rubbed at the spot, and I focused on Emily. She was happily munching on her food and had appeared to have forgotten about Stephen for the moment. It was easier that way.

“Why did you say you never wanted to get married?”

I jerked my head towards him. “What?” Where the heck had that come from?

He set the towel on the table. “That night at the Brewhouse. You were coming back to the table after dancing with Kate and I overheard you. I was just curious, wondering if you had a bad experience to make you feel that way.”

I stared at him a bit. My first thought was that the question was too personal, but it wasn’t like I had a problem talking about it with anyone else.

“The opposite, actually,” I said. “My parents never married and they continue to this day to have as close to a perfect relationship as you can get. I’d rather be like them than the majority of other couples I see who are married and unhappy.”

He tilted his head as if studying me. “That’s something I don’t hear often. Usually, someone’s gun-shy because of a parents’ nasty divorce, not because they’re happily unmarried.”

“What about you? Are your parents still together?”

“Well, I did have the nasty divorce experience, but your situation is more interesting. I’d rather talk about you.”

“There’s not much to say. My parents aren’t the norm, but it works for them. I grew up wanting that same freedom, whereas my sister turned out the opposite.”

“Emily’s mom?”

I nodded. “She was embarrassed because my parents weren’t married, and it seemed like her way of rebelling was marrying theinstant she could. Unfortunately, it was to a jerk who doesn’t deserve her.”

“Another unhappy marriage.”

“Yeah, but she won’t admit it.” I glanced at Emily who was starting to get sleepy. I was already careful about swearing around her, but I was going to have to start watching my mouth when talking about the asshole too. “He’s a lousy husband, but so far he seems like a decent-enough father. That’s the only thing that allows me to tolerate him.”

“It’s just you and your sister, then?”

“Yep.”

“Are you two close?”

“To an extent but only because of my niece here.” I cuddled her in my lap. “I love my sister, but we don’t exactly have anything in common. At least not until Emily was born.”

I wanted so badly to ask about him, if he had any siblings, if there were any children in the family since he seemed so comfortable around them. I wanted to, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to find out anything that would make me like him even more.

“Speaking of Emily,” he said, standing up. “She’s going down for the count. I’ll get out of your way so she can nap.”

I smiled, happy that he’d noticed. I hadn’t looked forward to being rude and kicking him out. He picked up his empty cup, looked into it a moment before resting his eyes back on me.

“I’m meeting a few friends tomorrow night at Wengo’s if you’d like to stop by.”

My chest yammered away. I couldn’t get it to shut up. He’d asked in a casual way, just friends hanging out, but it had a date-y feel to it. I’d never been so relieved to have plans already. I didn’t trust myself not to say no. I knew I was strong enough not to cheat on Dre, but I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to decline the invitation to spend more time withthis man.

“I’ll be babysitting again, but have fun. If Alex is there, tell himI said hi.”

He nodded and headed towards the kitchen with his cup. He looked over his shoulder. “If you ever want help with that, let me know.”

“With babysitting?”What?

My phone rang in my purse, and I quickly pulled it out and silenced it before the noise roused Emily. Too late. She hadn’t been sleeping yet, but at least her eyes were drooped. Between the loud tone and my jerky movement, they were now popped wide.

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