Page 84 of Fierce-Dane

“Do you kiss her?” Tyler asked.

His father laughed. “I think if your father kisses this woman that is between him and her. But that just tells me he cares for her. He’s telling you about it now so you can warm up to the idea before you meet her.”

“Do we have to meet her?” Tiffani asked.

“I’d like you to,” Dane said. “When you’re ready. I don’t want to rush anything. She knows I’m talking to you about her tonight. She’d like to meet you too, but she won’t do anything until you both want to do it.”

“I’m not sure,” Tiffani said.

“Then we’ll take our time.”

“Tiffani, remember when we got our pedicures, how much fun we had?” his mother asked.

“I do,” Tiffani said. “Can we go back again?”

“We can,” his mother said. “But do you remember the woman who owned the place? Her name was Sloane. She was very pretty and tall. You even commented on how tall she was.”

He hadn’t known that.

“I do,” Tiffani said. “She was nice and Aunt Chloe was there joking about the massages and that is when Aunt Chloe said Sloane made her feel so good and relaxed and was her savior at times. I wanted Dad to have that. That is why I said he needed to get a massage too.”

His mother turned to look at him with her eyebrows raised.

He supposed he owed her big for that great lead in.

“How would you feel if I said that Sloane is who I’m dating? That she makes me feel really good and relaxed about life and not just a massage.”

“Did she paint your nails like she did Tiffani’s?” Tyler asked.

He coughed on his bite of food. “No,” he said.

“Will she paint mine?” Tiffani asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe. But that’s not what she does at her business.”

He wasn’t volunteering those things of his girlfriend just to get his kids to like her. It was not how he did things or who he was.

“Aunt Chloe likes her,” Tiffani said.

“She does,” he said. “I think you’d like Sloane too but only when you’re ready to see her again and meet her as someone other than who owns her business.”

“Does it have to be right away?” Tiffani asked.

“I don’t care,” Tyler said, shrugging. “As long as she doesn’t touch my nails or give me a massage. I’m ticklish.”

“She won’t,” he said, smiling. No obstacle there, but he wasn’t surprised either.

Tyler didn’t care for Ethan much because Ethan didn’t like to play video games or basketball or kick a soccer ball around as Dane did with his son. Tyler wouldn’t look at Sloane as a threat.

Tiffani, on the other hand… That might be more of an issue, though he could see she was torn.

“Does she have any kids?” Tiffani asked. “Someone I could play with?”

“No,” he said. “She doesn’t. But she likes kids. You said she was nice when you saw her. But she’s really busy like me so we don’t see much of each other. And she understands I only see you guys four days a week and the last thing she wants to do is take time away from that.”

“Okay,” Tiffani said. “Maybe we can meet soon. But not yet.”

“Not yet,” he said. “You tell me when you’re ready. Is it okay if I talk about her though? If you want to know anything you just have to ask.”

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