Page 13 of What A Croc
“Oh, I get it. It can be a shock.”
We were both quiet for a minute, lost in our own thoughts, when he finally asked, “Where did you both leave it?”
“He wants to take me to dinner on Friday night,” I told him. “On a date.”
“You said yes, right?” Wyatt asked, “Because I think you should.”
Rolling my own eyes at him, I mumbled, “I said yes. It will give me a chance to go over all the reasons he and I won’t work.”
And I would need to tell him that kids weren’t an option. If our age difference wasn’t a deterrent for the man, which he insisted it wasn’t, I was positive that my inability to bear children would be.
“Maybe just enjoy the date,” Wyatt advised, standing up and rinsing his cup in the sink. “In my experience, Fate doesn’t get it wrong. I think it would be great if you met someone that will treat you the way you should be treated.”
Tears welled in my eyes, and I told him softly, “We didn’t have a bad life, your mother and me.”
Something flared in Wyatt’s eyes, and I knew I was walking on thin ice. Things with Wyatt were complicated. We had come so far in repairing our fractured relationship, grown so much closer than we had ever been, but some things were still sore subjects. His childhood being one of them.
Wyatt opened his mouth, then closed it, before he took a breath and whispered, “It might not have been bad, but it sure as fuck wasn’t a happy one. For either of us. So, if you have the slightest chance to be happy Pops, of experiencing what I have with Becks, you owe it to yourself to take it.Let go of whatever fucked up ideas have been planted in your head about what should and shouldn’t be, and just enjoy the ride.” He winked then, a sly smirk curving his lips. “And I do mean, enjoy the ride.”
My face flooded with heat. “Wyatt Cooper!”
Tossing his head back, laughter filled the kitchen. “What? Fuck, Pops, you act like you have one foot in the grave. You don’t, far from it. And if a hot,younger, alpha wants you, enjoy it! And it’s Cooper-Beckett. If you’re going to full name me, get the name correct.”
Shaking my head at his sass, I didn’t know quite what to say. Other than that he might not be wrong. My son was a certified genius, after all. Maybe I should listen to him.
I did deserve to have someone treat me well, and Jacksonwashot.
But a relationship between us?
I wasn’t so sure about that.
But one date with the man wasn’t going to hurt anything, and despite Wyatt’s encouragement, I did plan to spend the date pointing out all the reasons that Jackson and I wouldn’t work. Despite what Fate had to say about it.
Chapter Six
Jackson
Walking Aiden into the daycare on Monday morning, butterflies swirled in my stomach with a strange feeling it took me a minute to identify.
Anticipation.
Eagerness.
Smiling to myself, I held the door open for my son, and he zoomed past, eager to see his new friends. It was amazing what a difference just a week had made in him. He loved coming to Little Cubs, loved all the friends he had made, loved Robert and all the other teachers, as he called them.
My first week of work had been exhausting. Most nights when I had picked him up, I had felt a bit like my brain was mush. But seeing the wide grin on Aiden’s face,the absolute joy shining from his eyes, always made me forget how tired I was.
This morning, my entire body was thrumming with excitement, and I held tightly to the white pastry bag in my hand. I had no idea what had prompted me to buy the muffin for Robert this morning.
But when I had stopped for coffee at The Sweet Spot, the bakery/coffee shop owned by Brendan’s brother-in-law, Quinn, they had just brought out piping hot blueberry muffins. They had smelled heavenly, and I had ordered one for myself and one for Robert. Aiden had turned his nose up, asking for a chocolate chip toffee cookie instead. And while I should have said no, even though there wasn’t much difference between eating a muffin for breakfast over a cookie, I hadn’t been able to resist his pleading eyes. At least I’d known I had fixed him a decent breakfast beforehand.
Aiden had happily munched on his cookie on the drive to the daycare, declaring it the best cookie he had ever eaten. I had to say the blueberry muffin might have been the best muffin I had ever put in my mouth, so his review of the cookie was likely spot on. I had stopped into the shop a few times the past week for coffee, but this was the first morning I had bought any of the delectable looking pastries that lined the cases. It would not be the last. I could see me quickly becoming addicted to the sweet treats and making them a daily thing.
I hadn’t seen Robert since Saturday, but thoughts of him had invaded every waking moment of my entire weekend. I kicked myself for not getting the man’s phone number. Then told myself that he needed some space, and had I had his number, I would have likely been texting or calling him non-stop.
I could already tell where Robert Cooper was concerned, I had zero chill.
It didn’t help the situation that my dick had decided to join the land of the living again, and his thoughts had been all about Robert too. The taste of his kiss had lingered on my lips, hell, on my very soul. I had jacked myself in the shower to the memory of the soft, needy moans and whimpers that had escaped his throat. To the feel of his body pressed against mine. The sweet scent of him that had surrounded us.
