AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did you play in school?”
“Nope. I wasn’t much of a sports person in school. I was more of a hide-in-the-library-with-books kind of girl.”
“Mom, can we go yet?” Kyra asked. She was standing off to the side with her headphones still in her ears.
“Actually, I need to get going, too. My son wants Drake to be home before one. His future in-laws are stopping by to meet him for the first time.”
“Oh,” was the only reply I could come up with.
I wanted Ray to stay. I wanted to get to know him better.
“Well, I guess I will see you around. Palm Hills isn’t that big. It’s not quite a small town, but it’s not exactly a big city, either. See you soon.”
I hope so, I thought.
Chapter Four
I didn’t feel like working. Mondays were stupid. Really, whoever came up with the concept of Monday was an idiot. Whoever came up with the idea of work was an idiot! I groaned as I logged into yet another conference call from my home office. Since relocating from San Francisco to Palm Hills, I’d worked from home. I reminded myself for the gazillionth time how fortunate I was to be able to work from home, especially during the summer when the kids were out of school. It saved me a ton of money on day care and summer camp, plus I was able to spend more time with the kids. The downside was that work always had a way to get in touch with me. The day went by quickly thanks to the constant need for conference calls and lots of ridiculous urgent matters that needed my immediate attention. I was a techy dork. My title at the benefits distribution company really didn’t matter. Honestly, I couldn’t remember my title for the life of me. Basically, when any new laws went into effect, the company had to change something in the corporate database. And whenever changes were made to the database, they needed someone to test it and make sure nothing was broken. That was me. I tried to break the database and report any issues I found. See? Techy dork.
Around noon I heard a knock on my front door. I could hear Kyra and Max scuffle as they wrestled for who would answer the door. I answered before they could break up their fight. At a glance, it looked like Kyra was winning. She currently had Max in a headlock. “Knock it off!” I shouted as I opened the door.
“Hi, Cass,” Captain Ray said. He was rubbing the right side of his chin.
“Hi,” I said, surprised. “What brings you here?”
“Sorry to interrupt your day,” Ray said genuinely. “I realized this morning that I forgot my favorite thermos in your backyard. I brought it over the day we were clearing the brush.”
“Oh,” I said, a little disappointed. A big part of me hoped Ray had stopped by to ask me out on a date.
“Come on in.” I gestured for him to come inside my home. “We can check out back.”
As he entered the house, Kyra released Max from the headlock. Max said, “Whoa. Hi, Captain.”
“Hello, Max, Kyra.”
Kyra nodded a simple acknowledgment to Ray, then glanced my way. She narrowed her eyes at me in warning to not embarrass myself or, more important, her. I smirked a rebuttal back to warn and remind her that I was the mama. She shook her head in utter denial, then rolled her eyes.
“What was that about?” Ray asked as he followed me outside.
“Oh, nothing. Just Kyra being a teenager.”
“I remember those days. I don’t miss them.” Ray chuckled.
“Oh, is that yours?” I asked, pointing to the stainless steel thermos that was on top of my patio table.
“Yep.” He grabbed the thermos and fidgeted with it. He glanced down at it and cleared his throat. He looked back up at me, closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, he had a look of pure determination in his light-brown eyes. “Look, we are both adults. I’m just going to call it as I see it. I think you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. I know you are hesitant about me since I have a grandson who is the same age as your son, but, well, age is irrelevant. I’m attracted to you. I’d like to take you out for a cup of coffee and get to know you better. See where this mutual attraction takes us.”
I blushed, frozen. My mind stopped working even though another part of me was fully awake and dancing inside. The majority of me, though, was in shock. How was it possible that this man, this sexy, handsome man, could be attracted to me?
“This is the part where you either tell me I misread our attraction and ask me to leave or say I was right and accept my invitation,” Ray explained with his hands on his hips and his thick gray eyebrows raised.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Yes,” I finally managed to sputter. “I’d love to go out for coffee with you.”
“Great.” He grinned. “Is now a good time, or do you want me to come by later today to pick you up?”
I blinked. My hands went to my hair. It was a mass of untamed curls as usual, but at least it was clean. I was dressed, which was good. I was in the habit of showering and dressing for the day before starting work. I didn’t want to get into the habit of wearing pajamas all day long. It was a shorts-and-tank-top kind of day in Southern California. “Well, I’m working right now. But I can take a lunch break. My kids will have to go with us, if you don’t mind.” That was really a lie. Kyra could have easily watched Max, but I wanted to have an out if things went badly. I chewed my lip, then offered, “They can sit at a different table.”
He nodded. “That would be okay. I’ll even spring for sandwiches and pastries.”
