Page 115 of Wish You Were Mine
“Hey, Owen.” Theo appeared at the top of the stairs, his expression sheepish as he jogged down. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Had a bit of a mess to take care of.”
“I heard,” Owen said, chuckling. “Sounds like Charlotte’s a handful sometimes.”
Theo ruffled Charlotte’s hair as she giggled in my arms. “She’s my little tornado.” He smiled at Charlotte then, all softness in his expression. “We’ll be back in a few hours. Maybe around eight?”
“Sounds good,” I said with a smile, knowing full well my emergency call plan would hopefully bring him back a little sooner.
Theo pressed a quick kiss to Charlotte’s forehead. “You be good for Aunt Lucy, okay?”
“O-tay,” she said in her sweet little voice.
I glanced at Owen just in time to catch his smile at her. And it hit me again—how much I liked that. Not all guys were good with kids, but he seemed to genuinely enjoy her.
He’d probably make a great dad one day.
“Be back soon,” Theo said, stepping toward the door.
Owen followed, but just before stepping outside, he said, “Bye, Charlotte.” Then his gaze lifted to mine, and when headded, “Bye, Lucy,” in that quiet, almost tender way, my heart rose so fast it caught in my throat.
“Take good care of my brother, Professor Park,” I managed to say.
“I will.” A small smile touched his lips. And in a lowered tone that Theo wouldn’t hear, he added, “Good luck getting everything ready.”
And then, they were gone.
I exhaled slowly, heart still fluttering, and glanced around the room.
Time to turn this house into party central.
35
OWEN
“Been on any good dates lately?”Theo asked, winding up for his next throw at the axe-throwing place on Main Street.
I exhaled through my nose, gripping the handle a little tighter as I searched for an answer that wouldn’t give too much away about where my head had been lately when it came to dating.
Because I probably shouldn’t count dinner in my apartment with Lucy as arealdate.
So instead, I went with the truth—just not the whole truth.
“I took a girl named MaryAnn to dinner a few weeks back,” I said, watching the blade sail from Theo’s hand and land dead center. “It went okay.”
You know…right up until I saw his gorgeous sister rushing toward the bathroom and couldn’t remember MaryAnn’s eye color—or why I’d thought dinner with anyone else was a good idea.
“Yeah?” Theo turned toward me, wiping his palms on his jeans. “Anyone else on your radar?”
“Not really.” I shook my head, keeping my expression neutral as I lied through my teeth. “What about you? Any good dates?”
“Not really.” He shrugged then tossed the axe again. It hit the outer ring this time. “It’s been hard making the time to go out.”
“I bet.” I leaned against the divider between lanes. “Your job keeps you busy. And then having Charlotte…that’s gotta make things more complicated.”
“It does.” He glanced down for a second before adding, “I mean, I probably shouldn’t say this, but…I almost feel guilty trying to go on dates when I’ve got Charlotte at home just waiting to see me after work.”
That had to be rough—balancing work, fatherhood, grief. Trying to open his heart again after losing Alisha. I couldn’t even imagine.
And here I was, brooding just because the one woman I actually wanted was technically off-limits.
