Page 46 of Sweet on You
Nate rubbed the back of his neck. “Lex, I’m sorry. I scheduled the electrician to come next month—”
“I know,” Lex said, cutting him off. “It’s not your fault. I used to have a sticky note on that socket, but I remembered it fell off a while ago and stupidly, I never replaced it.” Lex sighed and rubbed a hand down his eyes before lifting his gaze to meet mine. It wasn’t an accusatory stare, but I still felt so guilty. “I should have mentioned it to you before I left, Ronnie. I feel terrible.”
I huffed a laugh. “Youfeel terrible? I feel terrible. Lex… I set your freaking bakery on fire! I wouldn’t be surprised if you never wanted to see me again.”
His expression softened. “Don’t be ridiculous. The whole drive here, yours was theonlyface I wanted to see.”
My stomach jumped at that, and a surge of goosebumps cascaded down my arms. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him and I searched his face, staring as he wet his lips.
“You given any more thought to buying the building?” Nate said, interrupting our moment.
Lex sucked in a sharp breath. “I’ve been thinking about it. I’m leaning toward yes, but there’s still a lot to figure out. I’m waiting on your friend to crunch some numbers for me.”
Nate nodded. “I understand. You’ve got a few more weeks until I absolutelyneedan answer. I’d just hate to see you have to move Latte Da if the new owner doesn’t renew your lease.”
Lex’s gaze darted to mine before meeting Nate’s again. “Nothing’s decided yet. But I’ll let you know,” Lex said and shook Nate’s hand before he left.
I went from feeling absolute elation, to a hollow sinking abyss in my gut. “You might have to move?”
Lex rubbed a finger across his brow and inhaled deeply before letting it out with a long, hiss. “I-I don’t know, to be honest. There’s so much happening right now. I had been thinking I would probably have to move when Nate told me he was selling this place if the new owners didn’t want to rent it. But then he offered me the option to buy...” he sighed, trailing off.
“But, now that you’ve found your daughter here…” I asked quietly. His gaze jerked to mine and silence slid between us like a thick custard. I gave him a little smile. “Tony let it slip.”
Lex blew out a breath. “Dammit, Tony.” He held out his palm. “I was going to tell you, I swear—”
“Lex, it’s okay. I understand.” There was really nothing else to say. It was okay. It was his freakingdaughter.
“It’s why… why I’ve been so weird with you. I knew I had a daughter. I knew she was somewhere in the New England area and Maple Grove was my only clue. I liked you so much, but I couldn’t start something that could become serious if I didn’t know where I would end up once I found her. I didn’t know how complicated my life was going to get. And it simply wasn’t fair to you. It’s why I turned you down last month when you asked me out. And… even though she’s close-ish. She’s still an hour away. I don’t know if I should move closer to her grandparents. Or if an hour isn’t that big a deal. I just… I—”
“You don’t know yet,” I repeated. “I really do understand. You have a kid. I mean, that’s… wow. That’s huge.” It felt wrong to be talking about us when he had so many more important things going on. It felt selfish. “You met her today, right?”
His grin widened, his turquoise eyes growing glossy. “I did.”
There was another pause. “Well? Is she beautiful?” What was I saying? Of course she was beautiful. She was Lex’s daughter. “What’s her name? What’s she like?” I tried again.
His smile relaxed and he fell into one of the café chairs. “Her name is Olivia. And she’s adorable. And funny. And, I mean, I don’t have a large barometer for what 15-month-olds are like, but she seems really smart to me.” His grin widened and he glanced down at the table, running his fingertip along the dark vein in the white marble.
I lowered into the seat across from him. “What?”
He chuckled. “It’s stupid.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “I can assure you whatever makes you grin like that cannot be stupid. No way.”
He sighed. “She blew me a kiss as I was leaving and I put it here.” He pointed to his breast pocket. “Her kiss. I put it in my pocket to save for later. Which seems like one of those silly things you do to make kids laugh, you know? But right now? I feel like I truly can reach in and feel that love—that kiss—if I wanted to. It was more for me than her.”
I reached over the table and draped my hand over his, giving it a squeeze. “Lex,” I whispered. “Why don’t we take things with us really slowly? And I promise you, I will not get in the way of you and your daughter. If you need to move to be closer to her—I understand. But… I want to at least try with us. Don’t you?” I dragged in a breath through my parted lips, my heart beating wildly in my chest. It took a lot for me to admit that, but it was the truth.
His gaze slowly lifted to mine and he stared into my eyes for the longest minute of my life. “More than anything.”
I swallowed hard, doing everything in my power to keep my pulse from racing. “Okay, then.” I nodded, but honestly? I didn’t know where to go from here. We said we’d take it slowly. What did that mean? Did it mean a date? We’d sort of already had that. But not really, because our happy hour last night got disrupted. Did it mean we would wait a few dates to sleep together? A few weeks? A few months?Oh, God, don’t let it be a few months before I get to see Lex naked.
“What are you doing tonight?” he asked. My lungs pinched, I inhaled so hard and fast.
“Tonight?” I repeated.
“Yes.” The corners of his pouty lips tugged toward his eyes. “For dinner. I can’t exactly open the bakery back up today. And the smoke probably won’t clear until tomorrow. So as I see it, I have a rare day off. All I have is an NA meeting at five, but I should be free by seven.”
“I-I don’t have any plans tonight. Except. Well… Penny.” I pointed above us to his apartment upstairs. He followed my gesture.
