Page 26 of Keep My Heart
‘Why not? If you can be her fake date, you could be her fake boyfriend.’
‘For the millionth time, I’m not going to the reunion,’ Nick says. ‘I have no desire to go back and relive high school.’
Matt leans toward me, hooking his thumb toward Nick. ‘Would you please explain to him that reunions are about seeing old friends, not reliving high school? He doesn’t seem to get how these work.’
‘I think his mind is made up,’ I say, looking at Nick. ‘But it would be fun to go with him.’
‘Are you serious?’ Nick says.
I shrug. ‘It doesn’t matter. You’re not going.’
‘I could find you someone to go with,’ Matt says, leaning back in his chair. ‘There’s a guy in my office who’s single. He’d take you.’
‘She said she doesn’t want to go,’ Nick says, staring at Matt.
‘She doesn’t want to goalone,’ Matt clarifies. ‘And since you’re not an option, I’m offering up someone else.’
Nick’s jaw tightens and he sits up straighter.
‘Daddy!’ A little girl with long blonde hair and a blue sundress comes running out of the house and up to Matt.
He pulls her onto his lap. ‘What do you need?’
‘Mommy said I should come outside and meet that lady.’ She points to me.
‘Hi!’ I smile and lean toward her. ‘I’m Lyndsay. What’s your name?’
‘Bella.’ She lays her head on Matt’s shoulder.
‘She’s six,’ Matt says. ‘And Mia’s three.’ He looks down at Bella. ‘Lyndsay used to be a dancer like you. She taught ballet.’
I laugh. ‘That’s kind of a stretch. I just helped out at the dance school. It was a great job at the time. Better than working fast food.’
‘You still dance?’ Nick asks.
‘Only for myself. I teach yoga, and after class, when the studio’s empty, sometimes I’ll stick around and do some ballet moves.’
‘I can do ballet!’ Bella jumps off Matt’s lap and does some kind of squatting move that I think is supposed to be a plié.
‘That’s good!’ I tell her. ‘Now try it like this.’ I get up and show her. She watches me, trying to move her feet like mine, her tongue at the side of her lip as she focuses. ‘That’s it! You got it!’
She smiles really wide and runs back to the house.
‘You should get a job at the dance studio,’ Matt says as I sit down. ‘She’s been taking lessons for three months and wasn’t able to do that right until you showed her.’
‘She’s adorable,’ I tell him.
‘She’s a good kid. Her sister’s a little terror. Takes after her dad.’
Nick laughs.
‘I should go check on dinner.’ Matt gets up, leaving me alone with Nick.
‘It’s probably going to be an early night,’ Nick says. ‘Matt has to show a house in the morning and Tessa is taking the kids somewhere with Matt’s mom.’
‘That’s fine. I wasn’t planning to be out late.’
‘Yeah, I suppose you’re tired from the flight.’
