Page 20 of The Single Dad's Guide to Recreation

He winces. “I was thinking the element of surprise might help.”

We’re nose to nose, breath puffing between us, his smelling faintly of mint. The need to know what he tastes like is stronger than my need for peanut M&Ms every afternoon at four.

His eyes rove my face, circling back to my lips. “I…” he begins, looking as discombobulated as I do. “Can I… ask you something?”

If it’sCan I kiss you?The answer isOh, yes.

Instead of saying that out loud, however, I just nod.

Eyes never leaving my lips, he sways slightly, like he was the one who just fell in a bush, or maybe fell under the spell that has me entranced. That has me closing the space between us millimeter by millimeter until… a loud honk has us both jumping back.

Son of a motherless goat!

Josh's head whips around so fast in the direction of the car horn I’m afraid it might fly right off his neck, and when he turns back to me, his eyes no longer shine with desire.

And itwasdesire, dagnabbit. It was raw need.

At least I think it was.

I step closer, but he steps back.

Okay, wait. Did I just imagine that almost-kiss? I rewind the conversation in my head. “Um, you wanted to ask me something?”

He just blinks for a few moments, so perhaps he is as flooded with hormones as I am, but then he wipes a hand down his face, wiping away all expression. “Yes. I did need to ask you something.”

When he doesn’t go on, I shift closer and roll my hand in the air encouragingly likeGo on.

“Right. I needed to ask you…” He’s blinking again, almost like he’s clicking through options in his mind. “Oh! Yes.”

I lean in just a hair farther, hoping we’ll return to the immediate-post-hedge version of this convo, but then he clears his throat and blurts, “Why does Leia hate Eli so much?”

ChapterEight

JOSH

Avery steps back, sets her hands on her beautifully curved hips, and releases a heavy sigh. Like a popped balloon, she deflates before my very eyes. Or like a marionette whose puppeteer snapped its strings. Or a woman who just got asked the wrong question.

After what feels like forever, she meets my gaze again, but the light has gone out in her eyes.

Did she really want me to kiss her?

It’s been a long time since a woman wanted that from me, and I’m not sure I’d recognize the signs anymore. Sad to say, I can’t remember the last time I kissed Lisa before she died, other than a brief peck on the cheek. I shouldn’t be thinking about any of this anyway. Especially not here in the Trede parking lot.

“That’s a complicated answer,” Avery finally says, her voice sounding very different than it did moments ago. “And a lot of it is personal. I’m pretty sure I don’t even know the half of it, even though she’s my best friend.”

Avery’s looking at me like it’s my turn to speak, but it takes me a few beats to remember what my question was. “I don’t mean to pry. But Leia insisted that Eli stay away from the Parks and Rec department, but he seems very intent on being involved in the process.”

She looks off to the side like she’s considering what she can tell me, but when she bites her lip, I have to close my eyes to avoid joining in the fun. Instead, I force work words past a clenched jaw.

“The day we met, you told me they were rivals in high school and that they’d dated. If there’s anything else you’d be comfortable sharing, I’d like to hear it. I need to understand their history if I’m to have a chance at convincing him to stay away.”

She sighs, still gazing off somewhere past my shoulder. I’ve made a good argument. Saying more would likely put her off. Instead, I study her profile. Academically, of course. Her straight nose, with just a tiny little upturn at the end. The way her golden hair falls past her shoulders in a shimmery curtain. The plump lower lip captured by her top teeth as she thinks.

When she faces me again, I drop my gaze, feeling caught.

“There’s one thing I could tell you, but really, I need to show you.”

Hands out, palms up, I nod. “Sure, I’ll take it.”

---