Page 11 of Undertow

He grabs my car door, letting me get in but preventing me from closing it. “What makes you think it isn’t going anywhere?”

I glance up at him. “What?”

“You said you have the rest of your life to go on dates that aren’t going anywhere, that’s why you don’t think dating is a thing worth doing while your daughter still lives at home.”

“I did.”

“Why such a dour outlook on dating?” he asks.

“I don’t have a dour outlook on dating.” I tug at the door, but he doesn’t release it, so I shoot him a dirty look. “I have a dour outlook on datingyou.”

His eyebrows rise. “Why?”

I could give him plenty of reasons. He’s pushy and annoying, he doesn’t listen to me when I speak, and I’ve never found frustrating men particularly charming.

But the real answer is profoundly uncomfortable. Even if it’s the truth, I don’t relish the idea of insulting someone’s child.

Wanting to be free of this interaction rather than have to do that, I give my door another tug. “Let go.”

“Not until you tell me why you don’t like me.”

“It isn’t you I don’t like,” I snap, surprised by my own answer.

I don’t dislike him?

That doesn’t seem right.

Since my answer doesn’t make sense and he’s still frowning, I decide to pound the nail in the coffin of his romantic interest in me. “I don’t like your son.”

He blinks like that’s the absolute last guess he ever would have made. “Myson?”

I nod, feeling my face heat. Even though my opinion is completely warranted, I feel like a witch saying it.

But surely now he sees. There’s no point whatsoever in spending time with someone who doesn’t like your child. There’s no future in it.

I had a first date planned with a man once. He came to pick me up, and when Parker ran over to give me a hug and kiss before I left, I caught a look of utter disdain pass across his face. When pressed, he said he wasn’t a big fan of kids.

I didn’t bother going on the date. What would have been the point? Parker wasn’t going anywhere, and if he wasn’t willing to love her like I did, he had no business being in my life.

I don’t see myselfeverliking Landon Atwater, so his father could be the man of my dreams and it still wouldn’t work.

Understandably confused, he asks, “What does my son have to do with anything?”

“My daughter and your son go to school together.”

“Yes, you mentioned that.”

“My daughter is Parker Johansson,” I tell him since he probably would have expected my last name to match my daughter’s, and he hadn’t heard any mention of Parker Cane.

Not so much as a hint of recognition registers on his face.

I frown, a little insulted on Parker’s behalf.

He’s never even mentioned her?

That seems wrong, but Hayden is clearly clueless when it comes to the relationship between our children.

I don’t see how. I’ve heard so much about Landon Atwater over the years, I feel like I know the little jerk even though we’ve never met.

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