Page 53 of This Time Around
She didn’t move back right away. They were almost nose to nose, and Jack felt something stir inside him at the sight of a beautiful woman in a cocktail dress kneeling in front of him on the blue silk duvet. She was a little flushed, and he wished like hell he knew what she was thinking. Her gaze held his, and he could feel her breath coming fast. From chasing the cat or from something else?
He started to reach for her, and her eyes flashed. She licked her lips.
“Ready to go?” She drew the page up between them, the world’s most ineffective shield.
He nodded, not quite ready to break the spell. “I’m ready.”
For what, he had no idea.
Chapter 9
Jack turned the key in the ignition of his Audi Q5, then glanced over at Allie to make sure she’d buckled her seatbelt. He wasn’t used to having anyone in the passenger seat beside him. Paige still rode in back, much to her annoyance, but he was holding firm on that one. Everything he’d read from the American Academy of Pediatrics said it was safer for a child to remain in the backseat until she was at least thirteen. Maybe thirty-six.
“All set?” he asked.
Allie nodded. “Nice car.”
“Thank you. It just arrived yesterday.”
“It’s new?”
“No, I had it brought up here by a moving company. Time was a little tight, so Paige and I flew to Portland and had most of our household stuff sent by a moving company.”
“That must have been expensive.”
He glanced at her, trying to figure out if there was any sort of judgment or admiration in the words. They seemed harmless enough, so Jack decided to let it pass. He concentrated on easing the car away from the curb and pointing them toward the restaurant where the event was being held.
They both fell quiet, the silence in the car broken only by the sound of rainwater shushing beneath the tires and the wiper blades squeaking against the windshield. He breathed in Allie’s perfume and wondered what she was thinking.
He didn’t have to wonder long.
“So do you really want me to take your kid bra shopping?”
Jack nodded, then realized she was looking out the window instead of at him. “If you’re up for it. I mean, I’m sure you’re busy?—”
“No, it’s okay. I just meant—well, I’ve only met her a couple times. Isn’t there someone closer to her?”
“Just my mom, and like I said, she still kind of treats her like she’s a baby. If this bra thing has to happen, I’d rather it happen with someone who’s going to treat her like a maturing little girl.”
Allie turned from the window and gave him an appraising look. “Wow. That’s very adult of you.”
He laughed. “Having a kid makes you grow up pretty fast.” He thought about that for a moment, then glanced over at her. “Having a daughter especially.”
“How so?”
“I guess it’s probably different in two-parent households. When you’re a single dad raising a little girl, you spend half your time feeling like some sort of Viking protector, and the other half pretty sure you’re screwing up six ways to Sunday.”
“I hardly think you’re screwing her up,” Allie said. “She seems like a well-adjusted kid.”
“Thanks.”
“Not that I’ve been around a lot of kids.”
He grinned. “So your observation is meaningless?”
“I wouldn’t say that, exactly. But I was always a bit of a daddy’s girl, so I think I’m qualified to assess father-daughter relationships. Yours seems pretty solid.”
“Thanks. It is.” He didn’t say anything right away as his thoughts mixed with the splash of rainwater outside and he tried to figure out the words that went along with what he was feeling. “That’s the thing about being a dad. When she’s young, she’s your little girl. You play games and make each other laugh and spend most of your time feeling like the center of each other’s universe. But then the universe gets bigger—friends, school, social pressures—and you worry you’re not enough for her. That no matter how amazing your bond is, it’s still stupidly inadequate for everything she’s going to need to make it through that awkward transition from little girl to young woman.”
