Page 94 of This Time Around
“. . . And that lining on the inside helps conceal your nipples if it’s cold out,” Allie was saying as she pushed open the door. “So that’s helpful for modesty.”
Jack grimaced. Hearing Allie discuss nipples might have been a turn-on if she weren’t talking to his preteen daughter.
“Hey, daddy!”
“Hey, kiddo!” He held out his arms and she rushed forward so he could swoop her into a bear hug. Would she ever stop being this affectionate with the people she loved? He hoped not, but he’d gone through a definite “don’t touch me” phase in middle school. Of course, that had more to do with his dickhead father walking out than with any real aversion to affection. He’d sure as hell gotten used to affection when he started dating Allie.
In the doorway, Allie stood smiling at him with her arms weighted down by shopping bags. She held something that looked like a bakery box in one hand. Seeing his gaze on it, she stepped closer and held it out. “Snickerdoodles,” she said. “Paige said they’re still your favorite.”
There was something almost unbearably sweet about Allie remembering his favorite dessert and his daughter knowing it now, and Jack felt a wobbly lump in his throat. It almost made up for the sour gut he’d gotten when he’d seen Wade back at Allie’s place a few hours ago. He knew it was shitty, but something bugged him about coming face to face with a guy Allie had slept with, loved, planned a future with at one point in the not-so-distant past.
Jack knew he needed to get over himself, so he reached out to take the box from her. “Thank you. I suppose I have to save these until after dinner, huh?”
“Life’s short,” Allie said. “Eat dessert first.”
“Good idea!” Paige reached for the box, but Jack swooped it up and out of her grasp.
“No way,” he said. “That rule doesn’t apply to growing girls.”
“No fair.” She pretended to pout, but Jack could see she really didn’t care. “Where’s Grandma?” she asked.
“She’s upstairs playing with my new app that lets her race her friends to see who runs out of toilet paper first.”
“Excellent.” Paige scooped up the shopping bags Allie had set at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m going to show her my new bras.”
She scampered up the stairs, leaving Jack simultaneously relieved and wistful that his little girl no longer had an interest in showing him her purchases. He got it, and truth be told, he would have been uncomfortable seeing a bunch of bras his kid planned to wear. Still, it felt strange being on the edge of this precipice into Paige’s adulthood.
As soon as Paige was gone, he turned to Allie. “How’d she do?”
“Really well. I took her to a professional bra fitter at Nordy’s.”
“That’s a real job title?”
“Yep. At first I thought the whole thing might be kind of awkward, but Paige handled it like a champ.”
“I’m not surprised. She’s not exactly shy.”
Allie laughed. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“I’m sure this was the highlight of her week. Thanks for doing that.”
“No problem. That’s an inquisitive little girl you have there.”
Jack laughed and set the bakery box on the table behind him. “Sorry. We’re still working on recognizing what’s appropriate to ask a stranger.”
Something flickered in Allie’s eyes, but her smile didn’t waver. “I wouldn’t say I’m a total stranger. We’ve been bra shopping. We’ve shared a snickerdoodle. We’ve bonded.”
“Very true,” Jack agreed, wishing he could tell her he hadn’t meant to make her feel like an outsider. But the moment was gone, so instead he said, “Thanks again for doing that.”
“It was my pleasure.” Allie glanced at her watch. “I should probably get going. I was going to work on touching up the grout in all the second-floor bathrooms tonight.”
“You’re not staying for dinner?”
“You really want me to?”
“Of course. Why would you think otherwise?”
She seemed to hesitate, glancing toward the stairs before meeting his eyes again. “I don’t know. You seemed a little . . . bristly earlier.”
