Page 90 of Shortcake
It was good to know that the comment from our server and Harper’s stepmom comment hadn’t shaken Addy. She seemed cool as ever. Me on the other hand, if it hadn’t been for Addy wiggling her body against mine and holding me close, running her lips down my neck and over my chest, I would have been a ball of nerves.
As it stood, I was only a yo-yo of nerves, the feelings ebbing and flowing with every trace of her tongue.
“I was thinking,” Addy whispered, her lips moving against my skin, fluctuating between kissing, licking, and speaking. “Tomorrow night when Addy goes to book club, you and I could go to dinner somewhere.”
My breath hitched. “Out in public?”
“Mmmhmmm.” I jumped as her teeth grazed the skin at my collarbone with a light nip.
“But what if someone sees us?”
What if gets back to Harper?
“We can go a couple towns over. There’s this great little Italian place that has this sweet chili calamari.”Nip.
“Yeah. Yeah, we could do that,” I said.
But I couldn’t shake my nerves about taking this public. Sure, I'd dated women in New York. But that city was huge. And discretion was a lifestyle there. I never had to worry about word getting back to Harper if I went on a date… not that I did very often.
But here? Small town central wherewho's dating whowas center page news… especially when it involved the new sheriff?
Fuck me. I was sweating.
Literally sweating at the thought.
And yet, I desperately wanted to take Addy out. She deserved a man who could take her to dinner. Hold her hand in public. Bring her to see the latest superhero movie.
She deserved a partner that wouldn’t elicit funny looks and whispers from people in town.
Someone who people wouldn’t assume was her fuckingfather.
Goddammit. My head spun. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get that disaster of a brunch out of my mind. “It really doesn’t bother you?” I asked. “The idea that Harper already thinks of you like a stepmom? She doesn’t even know we’re dating and she’s already grown attached enough to want you as a part of the family.”
Addy’s kiss froze against my shoulder.
Oops.
“Itdoesn’tbother me,” Addy said carefully, taking a step back. “But it’s pretty clear it bothers you. The question is why?”
Why is this bothering me? Good question. And not one that I had the answer to … yet. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Addy was great with Harper. They genuinely seemed to enjoy each other. Plus, Addy was responsible with her… mostly.
I shook my head. “I think I’m just being overprotective. I’ve never openly dated someone that my daughter knew about and the idea of that has me nervous. Like she’s going to get attached to you and get hurt if we don’t work out.”
Addy studied my features for a long breath before finally nodding. “I can understand that. But she doesn’t know we’re dating yet, Conrad. That stepmom comment? That was just a teenage girl throwing some feelings at the wall like wet noodles, you know? And the other piece of this that I hate to break to you… Harper’s already attached to me. Without knowing we’re dating. She’s already going to be hurt if I leave her life. And she’s sixteen, not eight. In two years, she’ll be off to college or wherever. I think you might be acting a little too precious with her.”
I snorted and shook my head. “You’re not a parent. That’s easy for you to say. It’s myjobto protect her from pain.”
“But that’s not possible. You can’t protect her from all pain.”
My head bobbed in melancholy understanding. “I know you’re right. But I’ll never stop trying.”
Her seafoam green eyes lifted to mine and my heart warmed at the glistening, unshed tears there. “That’s what makes you a great dad. But you still need to tell her about us. It’s going to be worse if she finds out some other way.”
The statement caught me off guard. Dammit. Right again. I scrubbed my hands over my face.
“I’ll tell you what?” Addy continued. “If you tell her today, that means our dinner date Monday doesn’t even have to be somewhere out of town. We could…gasp… eat somewhere here in Maple Grove. Together.”
I groaned, mimicking the same sounds I’d heard come from my teenager when I asked her to load the dishwasher and my heart pounded at the thought of talking to Harper today. “Can we go on our date out of town Monday… and then tell Harper later this week?”
