Page 35 of Single Dad Dilemma
When Lily’s face was visible in profile, I slicked my tongue over my teeth and walked over to the open chair at the end of the row, taking a seat wordlessly.
Her bare arm brushed against mine, and I kept my eyes forward, staring blankly at the stage covered in trees and garland and lights, the empty risers waiting to be filled with nervous students.
Mine wouldn’t be nervous, of course. But someone’s kid was.
Next to me, Lily shifted, and I desperately wished I’d changed from the short-sleeve polo I’d chosen that day.
Her skin was warm. Soft. And without me giving them explicit permission, my eyes darted down from the stage.
She was wearing dark jeans and a soft-looking charcoal sweater with short sleeves, combat boots with a chunky heel on her feet. Around her wrist was a bunch of delicate little gold and silver bracelets.
There was another tattoo just on the inside of her wrist, but in my peripheral vision, I couldn’t see what it was.
Finally, she turned in her seat and pinned me with a stare that I tried very, very hard to ignore.
“I’m concerned about you,” she said.
“Why’s that?” Even though every atom of my being implored me to look in her direction, I kept the impulse lashed down.
“Is it a small-talk thing? I hate it, too, don’t worry. But it’s common to say hi. Polite, even. Then I’d say hi back. Maybe aWhat are you doing at my daughter’s Christmas concert?” Her attempt to sound like me had me closing my eyes for a moment so as not to threaten the structural integrity of my retinas because of the mighty eye roll wanting to be unleashed. “Or are you afraid of women? Divorce can do a number on a man’s ego sometimes, and given your personality deficiency, I could understand if that was the problem.”
My eyes snapped open and I slowly turned my face toward hers. Immediately wished I hadn’t. Her eyelashes were darker and thicker. Her cheekbones looked ... shimmery, chiseled features of her face seemingly amplified by whatever simple makeup she’d added. Her lips, already full, were glossy. Shiny. A shade darker than her normal color.
It took me only a single heartbeat to realize I hadn’t lied earlier. Lilywasn’tpretty.
She was so beautiful that it made my chest hurt.
“Hi,” I said simply. Her eyes blazed with heat. “What are you doing at my daughter’s Christmas concert?”
Lily quirked an eyebrow. “She begged me to come. I told her you wouldn’t want me here, but she was insistent that that was not the case.” Why was her skin so perfect? This close up, I could see everything, every little fleck of color in her eyes, and I realized they were a deep blue. I’d never seen eyes that color before in my life. “I’m not in the habit of breaking a kid’s heart if I can avoid it. So even if you hate that I’m here, I think you and I can play nice for the next hour, can’t we?”
I ran my tongue along the bottom edge of my teeth, and she inhaled slowly.
“I guess we’re about to find out,” I told her.
Lily turned in her seat with a sharp pivot, and her arm moved away from mine. Bryce leaned forward, gesturing to his friend.
“Dad, this is Booker. He’s the friend I told you about.”
I managed a small smile, holding my hand out. “Nice to meet you, Booker. Thanks for hanging out with Bryce at school. I know he’s a little hard to manage sometimes.”
My son groaned, allowing a good-natured eye roll.
The boy smiled, clearly a little starstruck. “N-nice to meet you, Mr. King. Um, can Bryce maybe come over to my house over Christmas break? My mom said it’s okay.”
A friendly-looking woman with a big smile leaned forward, her waist-length braids shifting over her arm when she extended it to shake my hand. I managed to return the handshake without touching Lily, which might go down as my biggest win for the night. “I’m Booker’s mom, Imani. We can trade numbers if that sounds okay to you.”
I nodded. “Sounds good. Bryce, why don’t you go ahead and give it to her.”
The boys immediately started planning, and I leaned back in my seat, expelling a quick sigh.
Lily gave me another pointed glance. “Well, I stand corrected. Youcanbe friendly to people.”
“On occasion.” I flicked my gaze briefly in her direction. “I’ve yet to see you do the same thing, you know.”
“What?”
“Be friendly. I imagine you hissing at everyone new, smacking their hands off doors and trying to glare them back to a safe distance.”
