Page 26 of Daycare Santa

She sat and strapped herself in while Luca waved and reminded Zack about the lessons he owed him.

“I won’t forget. Good night.”

“By the way.” At the sound of her voice, Zack stopped mid-stride.

“Friday is definitely on.”

“Best believe I’m holding you to that.” He flashed her a wide grin and got into the Maserati.

Before her thoughts could settle, Luca asked, “What’s happening on Friday?”

Chapter 11

Zack’s work in technologytaught him patience. Many a night he stayed awake until dawn writing code that wouldn’t perform their intended functions. He’d learned to take breaks—walk around, drink coffee, tea, or whatever cleared his head.

Today, nothing helped.

Since asking Gina out, he glimpsed her coming and going, but deliberately stayed out of her way. He could have lied to himself about his logic, but admitted he didn’t want to give her any reason to change her mind. He had too much riding on this date.

One, it would prove what he told Eli—he was over Alana. Two, his brother would stop trying to find women for him if he snagged a date for himself. Something his brother thought him incapable of doing. Eli refused to believe Zack didn’t need a woman in his life.

Three, going out with Regina would help Zack decide if he could trust himself. The disaster with Alana made him doubt his judgment. At thirty-five, that wasn’t an issue he should have been battling, but he’d learned that life threw curve balls no one saw coming.

Alana was everything he’d wanted—smart, attractive, enterprising, a bit of a wild child, and she loved and supported him. After dating her for a year, he was certain they wanted the same things. They flew to Jamaica, and he introduced her to the family. He proposed weeks later and was ready to settle into a future with her.

The phone buzzed, and he picked it up. “Liz, are you checking on me again?”

“What do you think?”

He dragged a hand down his beard and shook his head. “Of course you are. Why don’t you micromanage your staff the way you keep tabs on me?”

“They know what they’re doing. You, on the other hand, are only around to remind them I’ve appointed a watchdog to keep them in line.”

“You shouldn’t have bothered. Half the time I’m getting in the way.”

“On the contrary, I hear you’re pulling your weight and that you’re good with the kids.”

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