Page 62 of The Dating Pact

Jude and his kids looked over at me. Seb and Amelia both agreed, while Jude reached into his pocket for his wallet as he headed back my way. He placed a credit card on the counter in front of me then set Amelia down too. “Get whatever you want,” he told me then smiled down at Amelia. “But no soda past six o’clock for you.”

She widened her eyes in my direction as she flipped Small Unicorn in the air, kicking her feet. “Sugar makes me crazy.”

I popped my hand on my hip, brows raised in Jude’s direction. “Wonder where she gets the sugar demand from?”

He glanced over both of his shoulders, searching for the culprit, before grinning back at me. “I shouldn’t be too late.”

I followed him to the door. “Any last-minute instructions?”

“Besides the sugar for her, no. He might give you a hard time about putting his Switch away, but other than that, give me a ring if you need anything.”

“I won’t.”

He stepped out onto the stoop, holding the door open between us. “I appreciate you coming over.”

I waved him off. “Have fun.”

He nodded but didn’t move. Merely stood there, staring at me.

“What?”

“You got sunburned a little bit.” He touched the bridge of my nose. “Right here.”

“You have no shade in your backyard,” I said defensively since I always wore SPF. Didn’t want to trade one type of cancer for another.

“I have an umbrella.”

“An umbrella,” I repeated. “Could use a gazebo or something out there.”

He nodded, his eyes far off, considering. “Next house, I’ll get you a gazebo.”

I huffed. Who would he be with when he got this next house? Who would I be with?

“All right. Get going.” I shoved him away. “Have fun.”

“See you in a few hours.”

I waited until he was seated in his car to head back inside his house, greeted by Amelia splayed out in front of the door, cards divided into two piles. “I counted your cards. We each have six. See? See? One, two, three, four, five, six,” she tallied, showing me her Go Fish cards. “I go first. Do you have a crab?”

“Hold on.” I gathered up the cards. “How ’bout we move this party to a table?”

She followed me to the dining room table, where I cleared off space for us to play. “Do you have a crab?”

“No.”

“You hafta say ‘No. Go fish!’”

I stifled a laugh at her serious reprimand. “No. Go fish.”

After inadvertently showing me all of her cards as she picked a new one, I tried a card I knew she didn’t have, earning a giggle. “No! Go Fish!”

I let her beat me quite soundly and stood to pop my head into the living room. “Seb, you want to come play Go Fish with us?”

He shook his head, eyes down on his controller.

“Okay. Well, how about in another fifteen minutes, we order pizza?”

“Yeah. Whatever.”

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