Page 33 of Finding Out

“See you later, Dad. Good luck with the art buying.” With a wave, she was gone.

When we were alone again, I let out a long breath and shut my eyes. I’d never felt more uncomfortable.

“I like the hot tub idea. Might need to make that happen.” Tom chuckled.

Breath catching, I shot him a glare. “Why did you ask me about coming tonight? There’s no way I could go on an outing with you and Chris and Avery without it being weird.”

He rounded my desk, then turned back to me. “It’d be fine. In fact, I’d love to make it happen.” He clapped, the sound echoing off the walls. “But right now, I have other plans. Grab your coat.”

“What?” I stood, smoothing the front of my skirt.

“No questions. Either you come with me or I go without you.” He pulled my coat off the hook behind the door and held it out to me.

I could have fought him, but honestly, I didn’t want him to leave me behind. If Avery hadn’t pointed out my hatred for cold weather, I probably would have agreed to the Christmas market tonight.

That nagging worry tugged at my gut again. Because if I let myself pretend that Tom and I could be any more than what we’d already had, I was setting myself up for heartbreak.

Right now,I should be panicking that my daughter almost caught me kissing her best friend. I should be riddled with guilt. The absolute last thing I should have done was encourage a situation where I was forced to interact with both Wren and Avery. But nothing about being with Wren felt wrong.

What felt wrong as hell was being without her for the last two days.

Maybe I needed time to prove to everyone that we were right for each other, but I’d make it happen. And part of that was allowing Avery to see me with Wren. To realize that my smiles weren’t because of a painting but because of a woman.

I climbed into the black SUV behind the woman who had me tied up in knots and let the driver shut the door behind us. Needing to be close to her, I slid across the leather bench and settled so my leg was resting against hers and my hand was splayed over the dark fabric of her skirt.

I wanted to touch her. Hold her hand. Rub her shoulder. Wrap my arm around her. I craved the feeling of her body against mine.

She pressed her teeth into her bottom lip, but she didn’t look away from the privacy screen separating us from the driver.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t look away from her. The smooth skin of her cheeks and the curve of her neck where her pulse fluttered. In this moment, with her warm body next to mine, I was at ease. It was surprising, since a relationship with Wren would bring entirely to much chaos to my life.

As strange as it was, my typically tense muscles instantly relaxed when she walked into a room.

And damn she’d looked good when she’d walked into Erin’s office, with the tight black fabric of her skirt clinging to her hips and legs and the white button-down molded to her breasts. I was pretty sure my tongue rolled out of my mouth when I caught sight of her. I’d had to avoid looking at her, or Erin’s endless amount of shit would never stop.

She’d been trying to set me up with Wren for about a year now. Though I’d been concerned about the age difference, Erin swore it was unimportant. It wasn’t until this week that I began to see her point of view.

The leather cracked as Wren shifted beside me.

“What are we doing?” She frowned at my hand on her leg, although she didn’t remove it.

I wanted to surprise her and talk about my plans once we were there. But much like me, Wren didn’t do well if she wasn’t in control. I could only imagine that surprises were not her thing.

“I’m taking you to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum.”

She sighed. “That isn’t what I meant.” She pushed my hand away, but I gripped her leg, unwilling to let go. “I meant you and me.”

I wished there was an easy solution to our situation. I wanted more of her time, her passion, even her glares, but I wasn’t blind to all the potential obstacles in our way.

However, there were some simple truths.

“I’m enjoying the company of a woman I want to get to know better.”

Her eyes shot to my face, wide and full of questions.

“Because if we were to give this a chance, I know we could be something special.”

She stared at me. Her lips parted like she was going to reply. Instead, she swallowed and shook her head.

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