Page 45 of Merry Little Midlife Matchmaker

“I, uh, have to pick up my son, actually. So I’m not…free.”

A pout tugged at her bottom lip. “Shame.”

“I know,” I replied, then spread my palms. “Life of a dad, huh.”

“Well, there’s always next time.”

I cleared my throat and racked my brain for something to say, then glanced up at the eclectic artwork for sale on the café walls and asked Astrid for detailed opinions on all the pieces we could see. When my coffee was empty, I checked my watch and made my excuses.

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up outside Aaron’s house to see Lizzie climbing out of her car in the driveway. She turned toward me and waved, a broad smile on her lips. Her kids were already sprinting toward their uncle’s front door, and I watched them disappear inside as I got out of my truck.

“Back so soon? How did it go?”

“What did you tell that woman about me?” I asked, leaning against the driver door and crossing my arms.

Lizzie wore a fuzzy pink hat that was somewhere between a beanie and a beret. She pushed it up her forehead and blinked at me. “What do you mean?”

“The woman was relentless. I think she was expecting me to bend her over the café tables right then and there.”

Wide brown eyes stared back at me. “What? Really?”

“She sat down and told me you were right, and I was delicious.” I wiggled my eyebrows for emphasis.

Lizzie clapped her hand over her mouth and giggled, and despite myself, I found my lips tugging up at the corners. The tension from the date drained out of me, and I finally shed that panicky feeling of needing to get away.

“I can’t believe that,” she said.

“Did you tell her I was delicious?”

“Now how would I know something like that?” Her eyes sparkled in the cool December air, that irresistible witchy smile tugging at the edge of her lips.

I could kiss her when she looked at me like that. Feel her part those plush pink lips and let me in. Taste her right back and find out ifshewas as delicious as she looked.

“I’ll admit, Astrid was a bit of a wildcard,” Lizzie said. “After Laurel, I thought maybe I’d misread you.”

“I’m starting to think you might be illiterate when it comes to my taste in women, Lizzie.”

“Hey, now. I’m under pressure here. You haven’t given me anything to work with other than wanting someone that no one else thinks is hot.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“No? What did you say, then?”

“I said I wanted to get to know a woman who made me feel like I was uncovering her secrets. Discovering her. Not someone who says she likes art because she enjoys getting messy.”

Lizzie rolled her lips inward to keep from laughing.

“She also told me she wanted a strong coffee to get her energy up so she could drink me down later.”

A gasp slipped through those lips I kept staring at, and Lizzie clapped a hand over her mouth again. “No.”

“Yes.”

“She’s an elementary school teacher!”

“She’s a sexual deviant. Or she might as well be. I’ve never seen anyone lay it on so thick.”

A snort escaped Lizzie, and I finally began to laugh. I loved when she snorted like that, when her giggles became too much to contain. She made me feel all fizzy inside. Even the memory of that disastrous date faded into something I wanted to share with her, just to make her laugh.

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