Page 10 of The Single Dad

“‘I got lost the other day, so I’ve been looking for all of my friends,’” the dinosaur tells Archie, its voice cracking as I strain my vocal chords too low. “‘I rode the subway in this lady’s purse so that I could get here.’”

The little boy’s smile turns into a bright laugh.

“You know what?” I hold the dinosaur out to him. “Since you guys are pals, and he’s so attached to you, you should probably keep him. What do you say?”

He beams. “Okay!”

“You’re gonna take care of him, right?”

Archie nods, reaching out to take the dinosaur. As soon as I let go, he hugs it to his chest, delighted. “I’m gonna take care of him forever!”

I grin at him—he’s a cute kid. I stand up, shooting a smile at the man. He stares directly at me, this time, and my breath catches as he meets my gaze. His eyes are dark blue, like the sea, and almost otherworldly.

I don’t feel the need to say anything to him. I don’t want him to feel like he owes me, or anything, just for being nice to his kid. So I say nothing, just nod at him, hoping to seem friendly.

I’m about to continue on my way when he holds out a hand to stop me.

“Wait.”

* * *

Cole

She’s… interesting, this stranger who just stopped on the sidewalk to give Archie a toy. She very effectively stopped his crying, that’s for sure. And I’m grateful for that. I don’t have enough understanding of kids to be able to reason with Archie when he’s distressed, and it hurts to see him so upset.

Now that I have the chance to look her in the eye, I’m also a little taken aback by how attractive she is. She has delicate, soft features, and in the glinting rays of sunlight that creep through the clouds above, her brown eyes glow like honey. Her dark brown hair is pulled into a messy bun, flyaways poking out in all directions.

“What’s your name?” I ask her.

“I’m Riley.”

“Cole.” I hold out a hand to shake hers. Her handshake is surprisingly firm for someone who just did a fake voice for a plastic dinosaur. “Nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” she says. “Do you live around here?”

Sheepishly, I point to my house, directly next to us. We didn’t get far on our walk before things went south. I must seem like a horrible parent to her.

She doesn’t seem to judge me, though. She just smiles. “Oh, okay. You’re Noah’s neighbor, in that case.” She points to the house next to mine. “I was just visiting him.”

I know Noah. We’ve hung out a couple of times since he moved in, and I had him over for poker night with the guys a little while ago. He’s nice—fun. But even so, a flash of jealousy rushes through me, sudden and unexpected, at the thought that Riley is his girlfriend.

“He’s my brother from foster care,” she continues, and the jealousy fades, to be replaced by relief.

I’m not even sure why I’m relieved, to be honest. Why should I care if this girl is dating Noah?

“Oh,” I say. “I see. Well, he’s a good guy. I’ve met him a couple of times.”

“Yeah?” She smiles. “Glad he’s fitting in here in his new neighborhood.”

“You seem like you’re pretty good with kids,” I say. “Do you have experience?”

She blinks, surprised. “Experience? What do you mean—like, work? With kids?”

I nod, and her brow furrows.

“I used to babysit in high school,” she says. “I studied childhood development as part of my degree, but I didn’t have any hands-on experience in college.”

“What did you study?”

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