Page 40 of Fierce-Dane

“I’m ready if you are,” she said.

Which meant he wasn’t getting a glimpse into her house.

“You said you didn’t care where we went,” he said. “But I’ve got a few places picked out.”

“You choose,” she said. “I’m serious. Something tells me maybe you didn’t do that much before.”

He squinted one eye at her. No reason to dispute it. It was only dinner.

They went to his SUV and when he climbed in he glanced at the booster seats in the back.

“I cleaned the car out before I came here. You wouldn’t believe what is thrown in the front seat.”

She laughed and got in, then buckled up. “I know you’rea father, Dane. I’m fine with it. No explanations. How about for the next few hours you’re just the guy I’m on a date with? If you want to talk about your kids, that’s great. If not, don’t worry about trying to make sure I know you’ve got them.”

Guess she saw right through what he was trying to do.

“I understand that. It’s hard to wrap my head around things.”

“Nothing to worry about with me,” she said. “We all have baggage. I know you said that the other day, but when push comes to shove, I’d say mine is just as big if not bigger.”

It was the sarcastic way she said it. “You could be right.” He paused at her smirk. “I don’t mean any insult.” This wasn’t starting out right.

She reached her hand over. “None taken. Relax. Maybe I’m as nervous as you. The last date was last minute and neither of us had time to overthink it. I bet you’re a champion overthinker.”

“I’ve got two trophies and three medals in it,” he said drily.

“That is one extra medal than me,” she said, laughing. “So let’s start over. Where are we going to dinner?”

“An Italian restaurant.”

“I love Italian,” she said. “I eat just about anything.”

“I’m not too fussy,” he said. “I get that enough with my daughter.”

“Oh boy,” she said. “Is she one of those kids that wants the same thing all the time?”

He laughed and wished he hadn’t brought it up, but it was hard to not when it was so much of his life.

“It was spaghetti for a while and now we are onto beef. There is some variety there now.”

“At least she is eating home-cooked food and not fast food.”

“Very true. They are good eaters, but it’s like a game to figure it out and make it feel like it was their decision.”

“Do you do that a lot?” she asked.

He turned his head. “I think children, even as young as mine, have to learn to make decisions in life and not always be told what to do.”

“Oh,” she said. “I one hundred percent agree. Remember my history. I won’t even tell you some of the places we got food from.”

“Sorry,” he said. “Do you want to talk about it or not?”

“I don’t normally,” she said. “There are things I’d like to forget, but I’ll say that everything we ate we raised or found. Nothing went to waste on an animal and if you’ve never been dumpster diving, I don’t recommend it, even if it’s turned into a game.”

“Yikes,” he said. He had nothing to complain about in his life at all and would think twice before he made any comments.

“Hey,” she said. “I don’t want you to be guarded. I’ll tell you if something is sensitive or better yet I might not say anything at all.”

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