“I needed to wait until Alan was in bed.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No.” Felix took a long breath. “I wanted to call because I felt like… if I didn’t talk to you tonight, tomorrow would be too late.”
My heart began to beat harder. “Okay,” I answered, hoping it sounded calm and collected.
“I appreciate what you did earlier. I haven’t really gotten out there in… a while. And with a kid—”
“Hey, I understand,” I said quickly, but my heart was tanking to my gut. “If I’d known about Alan, I wouldn’t—”
“No, that’s not what I’m trying to say,” Felix said, his voice making rich color dance in front of my eyes. “I want to make an exception… for you.”
“You do?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone I couldn’t get out of my head,” he said. “And after you—tonight—not a lot of guys look at me like that.”
“Like how?”
Felix didn’t respond.
“You’re gorgeous,” I answered. “And I may be a bit of a mess at times, but take it as a compliment, because it means I’m way into you.”
Felix laughed, and it was such a beautiful, soul-warming color. “Okay.”
“So how about those drinks?” I asked.
“Yes, please. But, ah, let me be the one to talk to Alan.”
“By all means.”
“So it really doesn’t bother you? Me being a parent?”
“No.” And that was the truth. I stood, turned off the television, and started for the stairs. “What would you like to do tomorrow?”
“Is the dinner-and-a-movie thing still hip, or has that gone out of style since I last dated?”
I reached my bedroom. “It’s timeless and traditional.”
“Is there something that doesn’t make me sound quite so old?” Felix asked.
“I think the kids Netflix and chill these days,” I answered.
“Netflix and chill?”
I tugged my bow tie free and set it on top of the dresser. “Yeah. That’s where you put on an episode of a TV show and only watch the first five minutes.”
“Oh.Oh.”
I laughed as I cradled the phone between my ear and shoulder so I could unbutton my shirt. “I don’t usually chill until the third date. You know, keep it classy.”
“I haven’t chilled in a long time,” Felix muttered.
“No?”
“No.”
“Mind if I ask the last time you went out?” I took off my cuff links and tossed the shirt in the hamper.
