Page 59 of The Single Dad Grump Next Door

Gabe grins. “Maybe I like you, too.”

“Maybe I’ve always liked you, even while I hated you.”

“Maybe I feel the same way, Alina.”

“Maybe we could…”

He rubs the pad of his thumb against the back of my hand, and the sensation of his callused skin, hardened from a lifetime of playing various musical instruments, sends a thrill down my spine. I forget how to speak.

Gabe picks up the thread of my dropped sentence.

“Maybe we could do… this.”

He leans in, hooking the fingers of his free hand under the seat of my chair. With a quick tug, he pulls me closer. I gasp, letting go of his hand only to brace my hands on his shoulders to stabilize myself.

A surprised breath of laughter escapes me. He’s so close. Closer than he’s ever been. Green eyes. Dark hair. Golden skin. The papery scent of sheet music and the pleasant undertones of pressed linen.Him.

I don’t think. For the first time in my life, my mind goes quiet.

He kisses me, soft and inquisitive at first.

The world tilts and, just like that, there is only Gabe. His warmth, his presence, and the gentle pressure of his lips against mine.

It feels like coming home after a lifetime of wandering blindly through a dark forest. I lose myself in the way it feels to kiss him. To be this close to him and not be snarling or hissing or beating my fists against his chest.

Could it have been like this the whole time if we hadn’t been such cowards, or were we meant to go on our separate journeys before finding our way back to each other?

Somehow, I know it’s the latter. We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.

I move closer to him, and he tightens his arm around my waist as if to pull me right onto the piano bench with him, but then a small noise from the doorway captures our attention.

“Finally!” Wren yells, her voice breaking the fragile spell.

I jolt away from Gabe, heart pounding as I twist to find Wren clapping her hands and jumping in the doorway.

“Oh, goodness,” I breathe.

“I knew it! I knew you guys liked each other!”

Gabe’s face flushes as he shoots his daughter an exasperated look. “Wren!”

“What?” she says, grinning from ear to ear. “This is the best day ever!”

I cover my face with my hands, laughing despite myself. Gabe shakes his head, but there’s a smile tugging at his lips.

“You’re impossible,” he tells her. “I thought I told you to go clean up?”

“And Iwill,” she replies with a cheeky wink. “But can’t you please kiss again? I missed the beginning. It’s like a real Disney movie happily ever after!”

“Absolutely not,” I groan, my voice muffled through my hands.

Gabe chuckles, running a hand through his hair as he looks at me. In the back of my mind, I’d been terrified of the challenges his single fatherhood might present if I dared to kiss him. Notbecause I saw it as a bad thing, but because I was terrified that Wren would hate the idea of it.

Clearly, I was wrong.

“Are you sure you really want to do this?” Gabe asks me, his tone a mixture of wonder and uncertainty.

I drop my hands and meet his gaze, my own heart still hammering. “I think I’m already in too deep.”

---