Page 60 of The Maxwell Brothers
“No, they live in the city, but every summer, they go on a long vacation. They’ll be back in two weeks.”
“Okay. And you’re as close to them as you are with Beatrice?”
“We’re all very tight. Tyler jokes that Gran is the glue that keeps us together because we take turns finding stuff for her to do so she doesn’t get too bored.”
“But she still has the bookstore, right?”
“Yes, but she’s not actively involved. She’s had someone managing it for years. It’s more of a keepsake.” Chuckling, he added, “She was even more excited than my parents when Paisley was born.”
“She told me that she lost her husband when she was young.”
“Yeah, my dad had graduated college, and his brother had started his freshman year. My uncle took a bit harder and lost his way for a while.”
“Oh. Is that the reason Kimberly and Reese spent so much time at your home growing up?”
He shook his head. “No. My aunt passed away when the girls were young. My uncle didn’t cope well. He buried himself in work, traveling nonstop to expand the bookstore chain. Gran and my parents practically raised them. Since they lived close to us, my cousins were at our place a lot. Then, once we were all grown-up and doing our thing, she went through a few years ofdepression. She went to therapy, but she was truly only back to her old self after Paisley was born.”
I wanted to hug Beatrice even more. Now I understood why they were so overprotective of her. However, something told me they would try to keep bad news from her anyway.
“The therapist told her that keeping busy is important, and I try to arrange for her to spend as much time with Paisley as she wants. She just can’t keep up with her anymore.”
“You’re a great guy, Tate.”
His expression changed from serious to playful in a split second. I loved that I had such an effect on him.
“Okay, I have an idea. Why don’t we play a get-to-know-each-other game?” I asked playfully.
He leaned closer. “Does it involve clothes?”
“Yes, it does. We’re in a bar.”
He laughed. “I know. I didn’t say we had to play it here.”
“Oh, you bad man. I knew you would get at this sooner or later.”
“I’m honest about what I want, Lexi. And what I want is you, all the time.”
My breath caught when I realized he was serious. “I was thinking about something more like ‘What’s your favorite color? What’s your favorite food? Book?’”
“Your favorite color is green. Your favorite food is a veggie burger.”
I jerked my head back, blinking rapidly before looking down at my cocktail.
Holy shit, did I already tell him that and forgot? Am I that drunk?
“How do you know that?” I asked suspiciously.
“Paisley talks about you a lot, Lexi. But I don’t know what your favorite book is.”
“It’sThe Adventures of Anne Delaware. It’s out of print, unfortunately. But wait, what do you mean, Paisley talks about me?”
“She does—a lot. And I take advantage of it. I keep asking her for details.”
The thought of him talking to his daughter about me was making me melt. I wanted to be a fly on the wall and listen to that. What would she say if she knew I was dating her father?
Would Tate even want to tell her?
Despite feeling more at ease around him than anyone I’ve ever dated, Istillcouldn’t work up the courage to ask him. But I didn’t have to know the answer tonight. I could have this one amazing evening and focus on reality tomorrow.
