Page 25 of The Boss's Triplet Surprise

“That’s okay with me.” Leah nodded and stifled another yawn. “Sorry, I’ve been a little tired lately. But of course that’s okay. I think we’re almost done with our fake-dating crash course.”

“I think so, too. Would you like to take a stroll? We can quiz each other.”

“I do love a good quiz.” Leah winked.

“Oh, no. Don’t tell me you were one of those kids.”

“One of what kids?” Leah batted her eyelashes innocently, and Dan chuckled.

“You know what I mean. The kind of kid who reminded the teacher that there was supposed to be a quiz that day.”

“I was not!” Leah put on an expression of exaggerated hurt. “I’ll have you know that I put my love of quizzes to good use by writing myself and my friends practice tests.”

Dan burst into laughter. “That might be even worse. You wrote practice tests? For fun?”

“Hey, it was a very helpful service. For my friends. Who may have also been nerds.” Leah hung her head, and Dan put an arm around her shoulders before he could think better of it.

“I think we were all nerds, once.”

“I can’t picture you as a nerd.”

“I might have been more of a football-player nerd.”

It was Leah’s turn to laugh. “I don’t think there’s any such thing as a football-player nerd. I was a classic nerd. I always loved learning and studying. Sometimes I’d find books on immunology or string theory or geopolitics at the library to read for fun — and worse, I’d write essays on them and grade the essays myself.”

Dan squeezed Leah tighter against him, his heart flooded with affection for the beautiful, nerdy scientist beside him.

“I love that. It’s important to chase your passions. Even if your passions are super nerdy.”

“Oh, I know. I’ve never been ashamed of my nerdiness. It’s served me well throughout my life.”

Leah rested her head against Dan’s shoulder and they both fell silent for a moment. Dan scanned the park, which was now decked out in full springtime glory. Birds called to each other from the treetops, kids rode bikes along the paved paths, and a group of seniors played chess at a nearby picnic table. A few families had spread blankets across the grass and were enjoying sandwiches and bottles of lemonade. It was one of those perfect days, the kind that Dan usually missed because he was glued to his computer. And the day was only made better by the woman beside him.

He glanced down at Leah, who was looking around the park, too. It felt so good to sit like this with his arm around her… And then he realized that he had his arm around her, like they were actually dating. This was a terrible idea. He quickly disentangled his arm and stood, feeling guilty. He and Leah had shared one night together, but that didn’t mean that she wanted him to put his arm around her. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking.

“Shall we walk?”

Leah got to her feet and nodded. Her expression was unreadable. “Yes, let’s. And we’ll let the quizzing commence.”

They fell into step beside each other. The path they were on led towards a lake, or perhaps a large pond, which was populated by a few colorful ducks. The air smelled fresh and earthy.

“I have the first question,” Leah said. “How long ago was our first kiss?”

“It was six months ago,” Dan answered smoothly. “We stayed late at the office to work on a presentation and got to talking. Suddenly, we both saw each other as more than just colleagues. We kissed.”

Even though Dan knew it was a fake story — he and Leah had made it up together just a few days ago — it felt almost true.

“Good job. A-plus. Your turn.”

“Okay.” Dan considered for a moment as they walked. “Where did we go on our first date?”

“Easy. We went for Mexican food, and you insisted on treating me.”

They’d kept as close as possible to their actual story so that it would be easier to remember. Dan nodded. “A-plus for you, too.”

“Let’s see… What was the name of my dog when I was a child?”

“His real name was Chewbacca because he was just as fluffy as the character in Star Wars. But you all called him Snorts because he snorted all the time.”

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