Page 20 of Single Dad Christmas

“You’re annoyed.”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “We can talk tomorrow night.”

But her expression must have given her away because he leaned forward and asked, “What is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re thinking something serious.”

She arched a brow. “You know me that well, huh?”

“You have a very readable face.”

“I’ve never been told that before.” If anything, it was the opposite. She’d become exceptional at hiding her innermost thoughts. She’d had to. “I just think we should be honest with each other, from the outset of this,” she said, after a beat.

“Sure,” he nodded, but slowly, like he didn’t really understand where she was going but was willing to humour her.

“I just broke up with someone,” she said, in a bit of a rush. “Well, three months ago, actually, but we were together a couple of years, and it was pretty serious, and the breakup was…the whole situation was…it was a mess,” she admitted. Then, wincing, “Iwas a mess.”

“So, you ran away to Australia,” he said, reaching for her hand again and squeezing it.

She nodded. “And planned to lick my wounds all on my lonesome. I definitely wasn’t looking for a relationship. I’m still not,” she hastened to add.

“I get it.” He moved his hand to his fork and speared some noodles, all without taking his eyes off her for more than a second. “I’m in a similar situation. I’ve got a daughter who takes pretty much all of my focus when I’m not at work. I don’t have the headspace for anything else.”

Louisa wondered at the sinking feeling in her stomach.

“With that being said,” he continued thoughtfully, “I like spending time with you. I don’t really think we have to complicate it more than that. We can just be two people who are hanging out, can’t we?”

He made it sound like the easiest thing in the world, and she realized it was exactly what she needed. Not to have a big deep-and-meaningful chat about her broken heart, not to talk about her PTSD from years of being hounded by the media. Just to exist and spend time with someone nice and kind.

“Yeah,” she said, and she smiled at him, as a weight seemed to lift off her shoulders. “And at work?”

“We work,” he shrugged, as though it didn’t really matter. “Is sleeping with me going to affect your performance on the campaign?”

She pulled a face. “No.”

“Great. And you don’t technically work for me—you’re an outside contractor—so there’s no HR issue. I have no power to fire you or make your life difficult. Not that I would, anyway.”

“I know that.”

“So this isn’t a “me too” situation.”

She shook her head.

“Great. Any other problems?”

She sucked in a breath and then expelled it slowly. “In the spirit of honesty,” she said, knowing this was important, even when they’d agreed to keep things light. “My last relationship was…somewhat high profile.”

He paused, halfway between lifting his fork to his mouth. “Oh?”

She nodded. “And so far, I’ve been left to my own devices, but when my ex announces his engagement, which will be any day now, I fully expect that to change.” Her eyes dropped to the counter between them. “I just didn’t want you to be blindsided by that.”

“Your ex—who you broke up with three months ago—is engaged to someone else?”

Heat flushed her cheeks. “I know how that sounds, but I’m happy for them, honestly. I’m happy for him.”

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