Page 22 of I've Got You

When Scott’s eyes returned to my face and our gazes connected, surprise flittered through me. While there was a hint of pink, he didn’t look embarrassed at being caught. Apparently, he didn’t give a shit. I grinned widely at the thought.

“So what’s your thing?”

Laughter burst free at the loaded question, the tension dissipating. Scott joined me, then continued, “I mean, clearly you keep fit. You bake, so I’m sure you do lots of sampling and don’t make a habit of inviting guys ’round to sample your creations.” I saw the doubt immediately, just as I heard his voice lower and fade a little, and was quick to address it.

“No.” I shook my head. “No regular taste testers. You’re the first unsuspecting taste tester I dragged back here.” I offered a reassuring smile. “And I do try to exercise.” I rubbed my hand over my not-so-hard stomach. “But this guy here,” I indicated my stomach, “isn’t so much fit, more like thankfully compact-ish.” While I wasn’t in bad shape, I was also a guy in his thirties with little time to indulge in exercise. It really did seem indulgent to take time for myself. Hell, I barely had the energy to do anything beyond tidying my toy store-cum-home.

“You’re doing a good job at keepingcompactthen.” His eyes lit up with humor.

I snorted a laugh. “Thanks.” I brushed a hand through my hair before returning it to my thigh, pleasantly surprised when Scott’s gaze followed my movements. “I have some basic gym equipment in my garage, and a jump rope to at least give my heart a workout, but just enough to get me by.”

“So that’s your thing? A skipping rope?” he teased.

“It’s a training rope,” I challenged, my lips quirking.

“Right.” He dragged the word out. “Do you have songs, like melodies or rhymes and stuff you use—”

I picked up a packet of sugar and hurled it at his head with a laugh. “Maybe, smartass.” My shit-eating grin was a dead giveaway to just how much I was enjoying spending time with this guy. He was not the man I thought he was at all. Hell, Tanner’d never believe me if I told him about Scott teasing the crap outta me.

“It’ll help when your Libby gets older though, right?”

Fuck me dead. Not only was the dude making me laugh, but he had to go there and give me a hard-on. He wasn’t shying away from Libby. Wasn’t ignoring her existence. I had very few flirt-worthy, potential hookup moments these days, and usually I couldn’t go through with them. Mainly because they’d recoiled once they’d discovered I had a child. Funnily though, guys tended to hightail it in the opposite direction, while women seemed to swoon at the sweetness, only to choke at the thought of taking on someone else’s kid.

It was hardly a surprise my dry spell had lasted so long with so many idiots in the world.

Then there was Scott.

He was unexpected.

A closeted jerk-cum-outed sweetheart.

Sweetheart?Hell. I didn’t see him coming at all, but now he was well in my sights, I really had to figure out how to handle that—and him.

“Yeah.” I finally found my voice. “I’ll even learn all the rhymes she needs to kick ass when she has rope offs in the playground.”

Scott tilted his head, both brows raised. “Rope offs? Is that even a thing?”

I shrugged. “Hell if I know,” I answered with a wicked grin. “But she’ll still kick ass and take names.”

A smirk played on his lips. “I have no doubt about that.”

We continued chatting about everything and nothing, only stopping for breath when one of us drank or laughed too hard to form words. It wasn’t until I felt a presence over my shoulder that I reluctantly dragged my focus away from Scott.

“Sorry.” Katie flicked her gaze to Scott and offered him an apologetic smile. “I didn’t want to interrupt, but we could really use some help.”

With a quick nod, I told her I’d be there in a minute, my gaze registering that the café had filled up a lot while we’d been talking. Movement from Scott immediately caught my attention.

“Sorry for dragging you away. I knew you were busy.”

Shaking my head, I offered him a smile. “I’m pleased you stopped by.” I really was. The past thirty minutes or so had flown by, offering me a welcome break from the norm. “I do have to head back, though,” I begrudgingly admitted. “Life will get a bit easier when I’ve finally hired someone.”

The man before me quirked his lips and stood. “Easy would be good, right?”

“Right,” I said with a small laugh.

“So….”

Scott looked as awkward as hell, and once again I took notice. He may have class, a shitload of education, and a history of being a prize asshole, but his discomfort and uncertainty were disarming and endearing. While I knew what I wanted to do about that,tohim because of that, I knew better. I offered him an out. “We’ll catch up soon, yeah?” I reached out, and his strong palm connected with mine. The touch was just like the previous time, one that sent awareness through me.

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