Page 26 of Accidental Dad's Best Friend

The details of the day keep me pressed until 4:59 and I’m pissed that I don’t even have time to change. I also don’t know why I care so much.

It’s just dinner.

Sushi at a small restaurant off 16th Street downtown. It’s on the newer side but it’s popular– too popular in my opinion– and I’ve been here a handful of times. Liam loves it. That in itself is another reason I am nervous. When I promised Izzy that her dad would know nothing about our business matter, I guess in my head I meant that I’d keep him away from her entirely. She has no interest in running into him ever and if he saw me with her, well that would be another dumpster fire entirely.

I request a table in the back, away from the bar. Liam likes to sit at the bar because it’s situated right in the middle of Blue Fin Sushi. The bartenders are all women and I’m sure that has something to do with it too. In the back corner, in a booth lit by candle away from the limelight of the bar, I can keep us hidden. Safe.

“This is so fancy,” Izzy smiles as she squeezes a lemon wedge over her glass of water.

“Do you want anything else to drink?” I ask, handing her the cocktail menu.

Izzy takes it, her eyes slowly trailing over the descriptions. As she reads, she nibbles on her lower lip. It’s enough to undo me but I don’t show it.

“Maybe the Malibu Orchid,” she says. “But I really shouldn’t.”

“And why not?”

“Coconut rum, fruit punch, raspberry liqueur. That’s a lot of sugar.”

“And?”

Izzy smiles and motions over her body. “Do I look like I am in the habit of saying no to sugar?”

She laughs but it makes me angry. She’s wearing an orange dress. And while I’m normally not a huge fan of loud colors, it brings out the color of her. The fiery tones that usually only show face in sunkissed lighting. It also brings more color to her face making her eyes bluer, her lips pinker and my cock harder.

“Do I look like I give a fuck about things like that?” I ask. My words are harsh but it doesn’t seem to faze Izzy. She simply sets the menu aside and reaches for an edamame pod, dipping it in soy sauce before nibbling on it.

“Most guys care.”

I lean in. I’m done with being compared to the douchebags she’s typically in the company of, whoever they are. “I am not most guys.”

Izzy’s eyes lock on mine and there’s a moment of heated silence between us before she sucks in a breath, indifferently. “No, I don’t suppose you are.”

We order our cocktails and a sushi platter to share. Meanwhile, Izzy sways to the music, admiring the ambiance and I shift in my seat, trying to find a way to comfortably sit with a full blown hard-on.

“I never go to places like this,” she says as we sip on our drinks.

“Why not?” I ask, making a point of ordering the next round with a heavier pour. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s like I’m nervous or something. I’m never nervous about anything. But I think the fact that Izzy doesn’t seem to have a care in the world is making it worse. She’s got an edge on me. I love it and hate it and don’t know what the fuck to do about it.

I loosen my tie, wondering why I am still wearing it in the first place.

“I guess I never have anyone to go with. But also, I’m kind of a homebody, to be honest.”

I snort at that, undoing the first two buttons of my shirt while I’m at it.

“Are you making fun of me?” She asks with a grin, the cocktail straw teasing her lip as she pauses before taking another sip.

“Not at all. I just don’t know what that’s like.”

“Being at home?”

“Not having places I have to be. Between running the journalism staff and trying to keep your dad at bay, I am either always in the office or always at a meeting. I don’t eveneat dinner without discussing business most of the time. It’s exhausting.”

Izzy’s smile fades and she glances around the room uneasily.

I mentally kick myself.

“He’s not here,” I say in a low, soft voice. “I’ve made sure of it.”

---