Page 36 of Something Borrowed, Something You

Is that… a smile I see on her face? The man wasn’t just a charmer, he was a fucking magician.

“But he’s not as good as me, is he?”

Hunter walked in behind her and closed the front door. He was sweaty, so deliciously sweaty. “You play?”

Izzy scoffed. “When she shoots a free throw, one of her legs goes up like she’s Marilyn Monroe. And a few weeks ago, she scored a goal.”

Hunter’s brows drew down. “She plays soccer, too?”

“No, that’s what she said when she miraculously hit a basket. She started jumping up and down yelling that she’d scored a goal.”

“I was excited.”

Izzy shook her head, but the smile never left her face. “I invited Hunter to come see my game on Tuesday. He’s gonna watch and tell me what I’m doing wrong, like Dad used to do.”

I looked at Hunter. “Oh, is he?”

“Is that okay with you?” he asked, looking sincere.

Izzy was so excited, I couldn’t possibly say no. At least that’s the reason I gave myself when I didn’t object.

“Sure. That’s nice of you. I have plans after the game, but I can make them a little later to stay for the recap.”

The Hunter swoon-fest continued during dessert. After we’d finished, when I caught the time on my phone, I was surprised to find it was almost ten o’clock. Normally we were out of here by eight since Izzy had school in the morning and the train ride was over an hour.

“It’s getting really late. We better head out, Izzy.”

She frowned. But then a thought gave her momentary hope. “What train do you take, Hunter?”

“I drove here. But I’m staying in Manhattan. I can drop you ladies on the way to my sublet.”

I said, “No, thank you,” at the same moment Izzy said, “That’d be great.”

Both looked at me with pouts. I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Traffic should be moving by now anyway.”

The car ride was surprisingly quiet. Izzy put her headphones on in the backseat and fell asleep ten minutes into the ride, probably wiped out from playing basketball with Hunter for so long. Hunter looked lost in thought, and I struggled with my own thoughts as I looked out the window. Namely, while the idea of getting involved with this man was very tempting, I was in no way ready for a relationship. I also needed to keep my focus on the important things—my career and stepdaughter.

As we crossed the bridge back into Manhattan, Hunter broke the comfortable silence. “Your family is great.”

Knowing his mother and brother were deceased, I felt his words in my chest, and it made me appreciate what normally annoyed the crap out of me. “Yeah, they are. But don’t tell them I said that.”

Hunter smiled and spoke quietly. “I hope you don’t mind my coming to the game Tuesday night. I played ball in college. She’s really good, and I didn’t know how to say no.”

“No, not at all. It’s really sweet of you.”

After a few more minutes, he said, “Those plans you mentioned having after the game, would those be the same plans Izzy mentioned at dinner that involve a guy named Marcus?”

I nodded. “One and the same.”

“First date?”

“Second.”

Again he went quiet. Eventually, he said, “Poor bastard.”

My brows drew down. “What? Who?”

“Marcus. Probably had a nice first date. Won’t understand why you’re so distant on the second one and never accept a third. Will think he did something wrong.”

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