Page 201 of When a Soul Cries

“I wanna take you out, Sol.”

I stared up at him.

“Like a date?”

“Exactly like a date.”

“Oh.”

His laugh was low.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

It wasn't nothing.

A date made this real in a way sitting in his kitchen talking after Halo fell asleep didn't.

A date meant he was interested.

In me.

Not just helping me.

“My mama already volunteered to watch Halo.”

“Of course she did.”

“But—” He lifted a hand before I could object. “If you want Zari there too, call her. She can stay with my mama and Halo. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

That quieted every excuse forming in my head.

He wasn’t pressuring me.

Wasn’t deciding for me.

He was asking.

And that almost made it harder to say no.

I looked at him for a long moment.

My life was still a mess.

I didn’t have my own home.

I hadn’t accepted the job.

I didn’t even have my own damn car.

My daughter was becoming attached to him.

His family was making room for us like we had always been there.

And somewhere in the middle of the worst season of my life, I had started falling for a man I hadn't planned on needing.

That scared the hell out of me.