Page 36 of Perfect Imperfections

“The mall lady?”

His brother shrugged. “It was when I took Charlotte to buy her party dress. Lucy works at the pretzel shop there.”

“Who the hell is Lucy?” He loved his brother, but the guy ran through women. He didn’t think he’d ever seen his baby brother with the same woman for more than a month.

“Just some woman I dated a few times. She’s nice, working on getting a law degree. She’s not looking for anything serious.”

And neither was Gavin, so he bet the two worked perfectly.

“Can you please keep the PDA with your non-serious friends away from the keen eyes of my daughter?”

“Sure.”

Gavin walked over to the fridge, opening it, and helping himself to a soda. He offered one to Sullivan, but he waved his brother off. Raising his cup of coffee for a sip before returning to the piñata. Gavin shrugged and popped the top of the soda.

“But the kid’s gonna see things like that, eventually. Not from you, of course, but movies and stuff.”

“The hell do you mean, not from me?”

His brother laughed. “Come on, Sully. You haven’t dated a woman since the divorce.”

“I don’t want to get married again. You know that.” His brother had seen him at his worst after Claire left. If anyone could understand the reasoning behind his desire to remain unattached, it was Gavin.

“I’m not saying run to the altar, dude. You can enjoy time with other people without promising them forever. When was the last time you got laid?”

“None of your damn business.” He finished stuffing the rest of the candy into the elephant and plugged the hole again. “Besides, not all of us can have a parade of women gracing our bed. Some of us have responsibilities. And don’t call me Sully.”

Gavin snorted. “I’m not as big a man-whore as everyone seems to think. And I know you have Charlotte, but just because you’re a dad doesn’t mean you can’t date. DILFs are a thing you know.”

“I don’t even want to know what that acronym is supposed to spell out.”

“Dad I’d like to fu—”

He shoved a leftover pancake into his brother’s mouth. The bastard grinned, chewing the fluffy, cold breakfast food and swallowing.

“Yum.”

Gavin helped him with the rest of the party set up. They filled the balloons Ellie brought over with a helium tank he’d rented from the party rental place. He also had half a dozen chairs and a few small tables he’d rented. His brother helped him get everything squared away in the backyard. He was grateful his daughter had been born in the late spring when the finicky Colorado weather usually held to the state’s boastful three hundred days of sunshine. His birthday was in late January. He never had an outside party as a kid. There was always at least a foot of snow on the ground around his birthday.

The caterer came over just after one to set up the buffet. Since the party was scheduled for after lunchtime, he’d gone with small plates. Appetizers and finger food with cake and ice cream, of course. Everything was set up and ready to go by the time the doorbell rang with the first party guest. Within fifteen minutes of the first guest’s arrival, his backyard had become a screaming mass of gleeful children and gossiping parents. And all Sullivan wanted was the one person who had yet to arrive.

CHAPTER 13

Ellie rushed down the sidewalk, the sounds of laughing children audible from blocks away. Dang it, she hated being late. It was rude. Her mother had drilled that into her as a child. If you’re not ten minutes early, you’re ten minutes late. Extreme, some might say, but a hard habit to break. She wouldn’t have been late today if not for the accident she’d gotten stuck behind. It wasn’t even a bad one. Just some fender bender everyone had to rubberneck and clog up the roadway.

“Dammit!”

She stumbled on the sidewalk, wishing she could blame it on her shoe. However, since she was wearing sneakers and not heels, all she could do was claim klutzy. Great, she was late and about to break an ankle. Perfect party guest material.

She hurried up the walkway to the Greens’ house. Noting the large number of cars parked along the street. She’d had to park a few houses back herself. Charlotte was a popular girl. The thought made her smile. And why shouldn’t she be? The child was a sweetheart. She should have multitudes of friends.

Where were those friends the day those boys were picking on her at the zoo?

Ellie had no idea. Maybe Charlotte’s friends weren’t in her class, or maybe all the people here today were family or something. Did Sullivan have a large family? He hadn’t mentioned anything. They were just getting to know each other. She really didn’t know the man all that well. But she wanted to. More and more she was discovering she really wanted to know Sullivan Green a lot better.

Making it to the front door—without falling and breaking a limb, yay—she reached out to knock, but one of the large doors swung open. A tall man with light blond hair and hazel eyes stood there, a wide grin on his face. His gaze took her in, pausing on her shirt. Today’s was an elephant with the phrase Your Opinion is Irrelephant in honor of Charlotte. His lips split into a wide grin.

“You must be Ellie.”

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