Page 43 of Situationship
“Would it make you feel better if I told you I’ve been there.”
She snorted. “You are the most organized, together parent I’ve ever met. And from a former control queen, that is high praise.”
“The first time I chaperoned a field trip, I lost a kid. Not my kid either.”
“Oh no.” She covered her mouth.
“Oh yes. Because I was the only dad there, they stuck me with a group of boys. They failed to mention I had a wanderer. One minute the kid was there, the next he’d vanished into thin air. I looked everywhere and eventually found him at the lost and found with the entire class and principal. Let’s just say, I didn’t get asked to chaperone for the rest of the year.”
“At least you didn’t look like you exploded out of the cake at a bachelor party.”
“Slip on your workout leggings and the blazer over the top and no one will notice.” He put a hand over his eyes, then parted two fingers. “I promise I won’t look.”
She reached out to give him a playful shove and he caught her hand and held it to his chest. They stayed like that for a frozen moment and thatsnapcracklepopbecame asizzlesizzlesnap, sending tingles her way—tingles that went a little farther south than expected.
He stepped back. “I should probably go. . . .”
“You probably should.” But neither moved.
“Bianchi.”
“Yeah,” she said again.
His expression softened with empathy and his voice gentled. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. It doesn’t matter what the other moms think. As long as you love your kids, you can’t go wrong.”
“Anything else I should know about, Dr. West?”
“I’ve found that the best way to keep it all straight is a good plan. I’d be more than happy to help you with that. Oh, as for the shirt. I say skip the blazer, you look incredible.”
“Are you flirting with me?” she asked, because this felt different from a moment ago. This felt genuine and even a bit vulnerable.
He grinned, the double-barreled dimpled kind of smile that reminded her of the boy she’d fallen for. “I guess I am.”
“I guess I am too,” she said, surprised at her answer.
It was as if the past had fallen away and he was the same sweet boy who had stolen her heart.
Chapter 11
I’m sorry, were you talking? Because all I
heard was, “Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie,” coming
from your mouth.
—Unknown
Colin was screwed. The kind of screwed that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with the sexy girl-next-door whose life was set to permanent crisis mode. Even if he hadn’t been adamant about waiting for the right time to start dating, Teagan was hands down the wrong woman. When he got back out in the dating pool, it would be with someone who was at a similar stage in life as he.
He’d spent the last seventeen years being someone’s dad; he wasn’t looking to add anyone to the list of people who depended on him. And while deep down Teagan wasn’t someone who needed saving, she definitely had that crazy cutie thing going on.
Colin had done crazy. Married her, divorced her, not looking for a replacement. Plus, he already had one drama queen in his life, and Teagan was drama personified.
But even as he rejected the idea, he couldn’t deny a small flicker of curiosity about what might happen. Colin was used to pushing aside his own needs for others. Being a dad, he’d always strived to do the right thing, even though it was rarely the easy thing.
When it came to Teagan, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but he had a good idea it bordered on trouble. For both of them.
He sat on the back porch, sipping his morning espresso and watching the waves crash against the shoreline. The early morning sun struggled to shine through the blanket of thick marine layer overhead. This was Colin’s favorite time of day. The world was still asleep, the air was crisp, and he could feel the gentle sea spray on his face.
