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“Hey.”
“Hey you.” He walked toward her. “You look beautiful.” He reached his hand out for her, palm facing upward, his eyes trained on her face. She lay her own hand on top and he folded his fingers around it, his skin warm and rough.
“Are you ready to go?”
She nodded, letting him lead her to the car. He opened the passenger door and she slid in, sitting on the cool leather seat. Closing the door behind her, he walked around and got into the driver’s seat. Less than a minute later, they were driving away.
“Is Nick okay?” Aiden asked her.
“He’s good. Excited to see Cora again.”
“Cora?”
“She’s my babysitter. She’s known him since he was a baby. I call her my lifesaver sometimes – I’m lucky to have her.”
“Didn’t your parents babysit when Nick was a baby?” he asked.
“They barely babysat me. Why would they babysit my child?” She frowned. “They love Nick, but they don’t love babysitting. Luckily, Cora does.”
“My mom would’ve helped if she’d known,” he said softly.
There was a lump in her throat. “I know she would have. And I wish she could have. Nick would have loved her.”
The air around her suddenly felt melancholy, as though it was full of atoms too heavy to be ignored. She sighed, shaking her head. Tonight wasn’t a night for regrets, even if she had way too many. “Where are we going? I hope I’m dressed okay.”
From the corner of her eye she saw him glancing down at her legs. “It’s a small restaurant on the coast. After, I thought we might go for a walk.”
Thank God for the flat shoes. “Sounds lovely.”
She looked at him again, taking advantage of the fact he now had his eyes on the road, steering the car around the curves leading to the cliff top. She could never get enough of looking at him. For years he’d been a ghost in her memory, a man frozen as a boy. But now he was here, and so much better looking than she ever remembered. Time had been kind to his looks – sharpening them, lending them a strength which made her feel protected. His nose was strong, his jaw defined, his cheeks dark with evening growth.
“Are you looking at me?”
She bit her lip, trying not to smile. “I was looking at the view, you happened to be in the way.”
“The view’s out your window, not mine,” he pointed out.
“Do you talk to all your dates like this? Surely you should be flirting with sweet words, not accusing me of staring.”
He pursed his lips, eyes still on the road. “Do you talk to all your dates like this?”
“I don’t have a lot of dates.”
His eyebrow lifted. “Why not?”
“Because I’m a single mom. Even if that doesn’t put guys off, the logistical problems mean I can’t get out very often. Plus there’s my parents to contend with. It’s amazing how many guys turn around at the electric gates and decide it’s not worth the effort.”
“Their loss.”
“That’s what I like to think.”
“And my gain.”
“Is that right?”
Ten minutes later he pulled the car into a graveled lot, outside of a white stucco building, built into the sides of the cliffs. Fifty feet below, the ocean swirled and eddied over brown rocks, the dark water frothing into a white foam where it broke. Within moments he was out of the car, and walking around to open her door, offering his hand as she climbed out.
“You always did have good manners,” she said, as he pulled her to standing.
