Page 10 of One Bride for Three Single Dads

“Yeah,” he answers, meeting my eyes again.

It’s so weird. I feel like I should say something again. Like I should hold his hand and comfort him or something. What is that like, being a single father of an infant?

Silence falls between us as we all kind of stare awkwardly at each other for a little while. I dig the toes of my tennis shoes against each other, vaguely aware of the sound of the rubber soles rubbing against each other.

“So, we were thinking kind of soon?” Boone ventures. “And your availability would be…”

“Wait, really? You want me to do it?”

They glance at each other again.

“Do you want to talk us out of it?” Harrison smirks.

“Oh, it’s not that,” I choke out defensively. “It’s just… I mean, don’t you want references or something? You must have a bunch of people to interview…”

“Oh, no, they all ran away immediately,” Boone laughs.

I can tell he is the funny one. He seems to be ready with a smart comment all the time. Maybe even defensively. I wonder what is underneath that?

Harrison is the smart ass. The know-it-all. Is that for real? Or is that just a protective measure he developed after his divorce?

And Ambrose is the softy. I can see there is still a lot of pain in his life. Widowed at his age with the baby… I can’t imagine.

“Well, it is a pretty big job,” I comment.

“Huge,” Ambrose agrees somberly.

“So, you are totally into it, right?” Harrison smirks.

I take another moment to think about it, looking at each of them. Stupidly handsome. Breathtakingly, even. I’m supposed to live in a house with these guys?

Like live here? Twenty-four hours a day?

And I’m supposed to keep my hands to myself?

“Totally,” I smile back with a shrug. “Totally into it.”

Chapter 4

AMBROSE

As the Prius rolls quietly back down the driveway, I just have to shake my head.

“You guys, this isn’t gonna work,” I shrug.

“What are you talking about?” Harrison scoffs. “Did you see those tits? It’s gonna work really fucking good if you ask me.”

“We gave it a shot,” I continue. “Harrison, can you ask Amber again? She’s so great with Harmony, and Cole loves her.”

Harrison holds his hands up and shakes his head, his hair flopping all over the place as usual. I think he conditions and blow dries every morning before I get up. It’s crazy-looking.

“Amber doesn’t want to have anything to do with this, okay?” he reminds me. “She was only helping us out for a little while. She was pretty clear about that!”

“She was pretty great,” Boone observes. “Good cook, too. We didn’t even ask Jolene if she can cook.”

“But those tits,” Harrison reminds him.

“Yeah,” Boone sighs wistfully. “I’m sure it will be fine.”

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