Page 40 of Summer Heat
Maya's gaze lifted. "Daddy!"
Shep shifted so that she could climb over him to get to her father. She lifted her hands for a hug, and the woman reluctantly let go of Derek's hand. From the surprised look on her face, I wondered if she knew he had a child. It must be awkward for him, but I wasn't going to make it any easier.
Derek carefully extracted Maya's arms from around his neck and set her down. "Who's this?"
I couldn't help but compare the two men. Shep would have held her for as long as she wanted. He wouldn't have cared about sticky hands or his clothes.
Shep stood and held out his hand. "Shepard Kingston. Kinsley works in our office, and she's helping me renovate my grandmother's home on Captiva."
Derek's nose pinched as he shook his hand. There was nothing he could say about the situation. When I called to tell him my place had been flooded, he hadn't even asked where I'd be staying. As long as I was in charge of Maya, he didn't need to know the details of my life.
Maya moved back to the booth, sitting on her knees. She picked up her crayon and continued to draw another tic-tac-toe field.
Derek looked from Shep to me. "This is cozy."
Shep grinned, one of his lazy, easygoing smiles that never failed to charm everyone and put them at ease. "These two lovely ladies helped me demo a bathroom today. I figured taking them out to dinner was the least I could do."
Derek backed up a step. He must have concluded that Shep wasn't a threat. In other words, this wasn't a date. I hadn't dated anyone seriously since we broke up. I went on dates but kept those to the weekends Maya was with him.
I'd never met anyone I'd want to bring around Maya. Derek had never mentioned anyone serious either. But then again, how could it be serious when he didn't tell them whether he had a child or not?
"Our table's ready," the woman said, looping her hand through Derek's elbow.
I didn't mind her display of possession. Derek had became unattractive the moment I realized he wasn't into being Maya's dad. He was there for her, but he did the bare minimum, and a lot of the time, I think he was annoyed by her presence.
He was an okay dad, but that wasn't good enough for me. Especially since I'd observed Shep interacting with Maya. My expectations were higher than ever. I wanted a man who loved Maya as much as me. Not someone who tolerated her.
"It was good seeing you, Derek. Enjoy your evening," I said politely.
Derek merely nodded as the woman led him away.
Shep sat down. "Maya's dad?"
I nodded. "We dated in high school and on and off through college."
I sensed that Shep wanted to ask more questions, but thankfully, he wouldn't, not with Maya present.
It was obvious that Maya wasn't that concerned about her father being here with another woman. I wondered if he ever brought women around her. If so, she hadn't mentioned it.
"You guys have a good relationship," Shep said matter-of-factly.
"We co-parent nicely. But then again, I make all the decisions in our custody arrangement. He prefers it that way." He didn't care where she went to the doctor as long as I handled the visits. He didn't want to be bothered with the billion emails that the school sent out.
I sensed that Shep had more questions about Derek, but I was happy that he didn't voice them.
The part that bothered me was that Derek decided that Shep wasn't interested in me, and then he was able to walk away. Did he think that Shep wasn't interested in a single mom? Was I that out of the dating scene that I wasn't a good prospect? I certainly hadn't worn a black dress and stilettos for our dinner, but then again, this wasn't a date.
Shep had taken me out as a reward for our hard work. He had never given any indication that he was interested in me as anything other than an employee.
I shouldn't be thinking about doing anything to jeopardize my job with Kingston Construction, so why did it bother me so much? Shep could have any woman he wanted. I'd seen the looks he'd gotten when he walked in with us.
Most islanders knew I worked for his company, and surely, the rumors had gotten around that I was living with him because of the flooding. It was easy to dismiss me.
Shep was more likely to be with a tourist wearing a cocktail dress than a single mom from the island.
"Is everything okay?" Shep asked.
"I'm just hungry."
