Page 10 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

“That sounds expensive.”

She shook her head. “My son Zach does website design. He’ll do it for free. He revamped my freelance accounting website last year, and now I have so many clients, I have to refer them to friends.”

Connor swallowed before he replied. “I’ll admit that’s a good idea. Do you think it will be enough?”

“Probably not, but that’s not my only idea. I plan to rearrange the downstairs. I’ll move the front counter back to make more room in the lobby. Then I’m going to put up shelves so I can sell some of the basic stuff that people need when they get a new pet. Things like kibble, food bowls, leashes, litter boxes, and toys.”

“I can see where someone would probably buy a few essentials from you to get their new animal settled at home before going to the pet store.”

Tessica nodded. “I think that alone will cover the amount your mom lost each month.”

“Didn’t you say it was around a hundred a month?” He sounded skeptical.

Tessica gave him a patronizing smile. “Yes, but no matter how many times I told your mother to charge for it, she always gave people free food for their new pets. And not just a can either, like an entire bag of kibble and a six pack of cans to start them off. Not to mention leashes for every dog.”

“Oh.” Connor shook his head. “Well then, that might just do it.”

“The other thing I’m going to do is advertise for volunteers at all the local high schools. You’d be surprised how many kids want to do volunteer work. Especially the kids who want to get into college. Volunteer work looks really good on a college application.”

Connor finished his last bite of dinner and pushed his plate away. “All right, you’ve convinced me. I can wait two months. I’ll see if the airline can schedule me to pilot some flights to Portland. If not, I can probably get a jump seat on a friend’s flight. Either way, I’ll be sure to be in Portland about once a week so I can check in on your progress and see how you’re doing.”

Tessica’s cheeks grew warm at the idea of him checking in on her. It seemed like such a Daddy Dom thing to do. “Okay,” she agreed softly, as she ate the last of her pork chow mien. She reached a hand toward his plate. “All done?”

“You don’t have to clean up.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” she assured him as she picked up his plate along with her own. She took them to the sink, and turned on the water to wash them. Chores were Tessica’s go-to response when a discussion became stressful or uncomfortable. Menial labor had forestalled many an argument with her ex over the years.

As she waited for the water to warm up, Connor stepped up beside her, making it impossible to ignore him. She gave him a small frown, but he didn’t notice.

“I’ll dry,” he said.

She shook her head. “You don’t?—”

“I’ll dry,” he said firmly.

“Oh…” She focused back on the water, and hoped he wouldn’t notice her flushed face. “Okay.”

She washed the dishes and waited for him to continue their conversation, but he didn’t. He simply dried each dish and put it away. They worked together in awkward silence until everything was done.

When they were finished, Connor gestured to the takeout containers that still had food in them. “Would you like to take the leftovers home?”

“You don’t want them?”

He shook his head. “I’m having dinner with Michael tomorrow night, and then I fly home on Thursday afternoon.”

“In that case, I’d be happy to take them.” She went and closed the white takeout boxes and gestured to the two fortune cookies left on the table. “Want one?”

“No thanks. I don’t like them.”

“You don’t like them?” Tessica repeated incredulously. “Who doesn’t like fortune cookies? You get a sugary treat and a fortune at the same time.”

“I like the fortune part, but the cookie itself is unpleasant in my opinion. If I want a sugary treat, I’ll go for lemon meringue or key lime pie.”

She picked up one of the cookies and held it out to him. “You open this one, and I’ll eat the cookie.”

Chuckling, Connor took the cookie from her. He broke it open, took out the paper, and handed her the crumbled cookie bits. “Did you rig this?” he asked suspiciously.

“Rig it?” She put some bits of cookie in her mouth.

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