Page 2 of 40 and (So Over) Fixing It
“How about now?”
His gaze jerked from the cut-crystal glass he held to the woman across the table from him. What the hell was she talking about? “Now?”
“Yeah.” She smiled, the flirtatious curve of her lips dotted perfectly in the center with a drop of her wine. He watched in horrified fascination as her tongue sneaked out and swiped up the last lingering bit. “Now. There are plenty of baby girls available if you just…look around.”
Baby girl.
Daddy.
Baby girl.
Daddy.
Spanking.
“No.” The word shot from his mouth with zero finesse. “No, definitely not now. Not—”
Zoey’s flirtatious look shattered, laughter taking over. “I’m sorry, I can’t—”
He couldn’t stop staring as Zoey leaned back in her chair, clutching her stomach as if it ached as she laughed and laughed. Each time the sound eased off, she’d take another look at him and off she went again. He was beginning to get irritated when she finally caught her breath enough to explain.
“I’m sorry, Carter.” Chuckles bubbled up, interrupting her words. “I thought I could do this, but I just can’t keep it together. The look on your face…”
More laughter. What was wrong with his face?
And then he remembered.
“She put you up to this, didn’t she?” he asked sourly. He’d even considered the idea earlier. The Catholic schoolgirl outfit—and that’s definitely what it was, he could see now—had tipped him off, but he’d never considered Zoey being in on it.
And thank God she was. Saved him from some very awkward conversation after the baby-girl comment.
He ran a hand down his face, scrubbing hard. Now that he thought about it, strangling might be too good for Emma.
When he looked again, Zoey was still struggling to control her amusement. Her laughter made him feel about the same age as Methuselah.
“She did put me up to it,” Zoey confirmed. Her bright smile dimmed a bit as she watched him. “You don’t mind, do you?”
His chuckle was still a bit reluctant. “You, I don’t mind. Emma…”
“She’s in for it later, I gather?”
“Definitely.” From the corner of his eye he noticed their waiter approaching with full plates of food and sighed, releasing his pent-up irritation at his sister—for now. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy dinner.”
And they did. When Zoey dropped the flirtatious facade, he found a pleasant young woman—still far too young for him at twenty-four—who was easy to talk to and spend time with. She told him how she’d met Emma during a “munch” her BDSM group was having at Zen, how Emma had overheard a bit of conversation and introduced herself. Which didn’t surprise him at all. And the sense of fun he got from Zoey told him exactly why she’d agreed to this blind date.
“Besides”—Zoey shrugged as they lingered a bit, waiting for dessert—“you never know when an older guy is going to be interested in someone a bit younger.”
“I don’t think it’s difficult to find an older man who’ll go for a younger woman.” That seemed to be the preferred scenario with too many men he knew.
“But not you, huh?”
“My son is nearly half your age, Zoey,” he told her.
Her laughter said she didn’t take offense. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”
After dinner, he hailed a taxi in the early evening rush of traffic, settled Zoey inside, and prepaid the fare before giving her a wave as she drove away, all the while thinking about how many times in the past year he’d sent a woman home in a taxi, either after dinner or after something else. He wasn’t celibate and he had no objections to a little fun, but women didn’t stay overnight on the rare occasions Thad was with his mother and Carter found someone he was interested in. After this, though, he felt like a moratorium on dating was a necessity to cleanse his palate.
A daddy?
