Page 28 of The Hot New Single Dad Next Door

I noticed.

8

SCOTT

“So, that’s your new neighbor?”

I hear it in Summer’s tone. That urge for information. That hint for gossip. “Yes,” I answer as I chew on a fry. “That’s my new neighbor.”

Summer eyes me across the table while the children munch on their little sandwiches. When I say nothing more, her brows arch upward, urging me to keep talking.

I pop another fry into my mouth instead.

“Oh, come on,” Summer says, disappointed.

“What?” I ask, playing dumb.

“You know what.”

“No, I don’t.”

Summer takes a quick stab at her salad, her motherly eyes checking in on Sonya for a brief second before hopping right back to me.

We sit for another minute, silently eating our lunches.

“She’s pretty,” Summer says.

I exhale. “Summer.”

“Do you like her?”

I don’t answer, but that’s just gas on the flame.

Summer chuckles. “Uh-huh.”

“Stop,” I say.

“Kiss County strikes again.”

“No, it hasn’t.”

“You ask her out yet?”

“Of course not.”

“Why not?”

“We just met,” I say.

“So?”

“So… it’s complicated.”

Summer pops a crouton into her mouth. “Well, if you won’t go for it, I might,” she says, her sharp eyes finding Lottie across the diner. “She’s cute.”

I don’t reply.

Summer softens. “Oh, come on,” she says. “We can joke about it, can’t we? Can we please get to the part where we can joke about it, Scott?”

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