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“I don’t suppose you would still be able to pretend to be my fiancé,” I asked, broaching the issue carefully. Despite what had happened, I wasn’t ready to give up on the idea.
“Sure, if you still want me to,” he said with a shrug.
“Of course, I do!” with a bit too much encouragement.
“Alright then,” he did, flashing that damn, sexy smile again.
“H-how about tonight?” I stammered, trying salvage some semblance of dignity.
“That should work, where?” Russ asked, again leaving it up to me.
“Not The Blue Room,” I said a bit too quickly.
“No, I guess not,” he agreed, being very understanding.
“Do you know Pablo’s?” I asked, trying to think of somewhere near the office.
“I think so,” he said.
“Great, see you there at five?” I asked.
“That will probably work,” he said.
“A lot of work to do?” I asked, trying to learn more about him.
“Yeah,” he said, taking out his phone, going cold again, before nodding and walking away. I stood at the fence and watched him get into his car.
The uncertainty was back. I really couldn’t figure Russ out but was determined to try.
Chapter Ten
Russ
I had a bad habit of leaving things to the last minute. Such as not actually checking the address of Pablo’s restaurant until I was heading out for the car. Kimberly had the night off from the hospital she worked at and could babysit. She was pleased that I remembered to call to check and make sure.
Before we hung up, my sister told me that Carly wanted to talk to me.
“Where are you goin’, daddy?” Carly asked. Her sweet voice singing over the phone.
“I’m going out to dinner, sweet pea,” I said.
“Can I come?” Carly asked.
“No, honey, you’re going to be staying with aunt Kimberly,” I explained.
“Can we get pizza?” my little angel asked, easily distracted.
“Sure,” I could hear Kimberly say behind her.
Since she got all her teeth in, there was no keeping my daughter away from pizza. Tomato sauce and cheese was her favorite thing. She absolutely loved it. Kim and I liked to joke that it was her Italian genes.
With Carly screaming excitedly around Kimberly’s feet as she said goodbye and got out the pizza menus, I hung up and looked at my phone to see if I could actually find where I was supposed to go.
I had heard horror stories about GPS — directing people to dive into a rock quarry and such. I had no such trouble, not only finding Pablo’s restaurant but actually getting there a bit early. Which was a stroke of luck as it turned out because the parking situation was similar to that at The Blue Room, just a bit less extreme.
The smell of flame-grilled meat hit me as soon as I got through the door. No tuxes or string quartets here. It was all checked tablecloths and mandolin music. I honestly could have cried.
“Hello, welcome to Pablo’s!” said the thin young man behind the podium.
“Hi,” I said, a bit surprised at his enthusiasm. “I’m here to meet Ann Howell.”
“Right this way,” the server said, taking a menu as he headed into the depths of the dining room.
Ann was seated at a table in the corner. Since she was looking down at the menu as I approached, I had a minute to look her over. The charcoal gray suit I had seen her in this morning was still miraculously pressed. I missed the revealing dress she had on the other night, but she still looked sexy as hell. With those curves, the woman would look good in anything.
“Hey,” I said, sitting down at the table.
“Hey,” she replied, glancing up with a slight smile. I loved the way she tucked her hair behind one ear.
We briefly kissed on the cheek. I wasn’t quite sure what her reasoning was, but it just felt natural to me, and Ann in no way objected, seeming to be as up for it as I was.
“How’s your son?” I asked, looking for small talk.
“Oh, he’s great!” she said, brightening up.
“That’s good to hear,” I said, meaning it genuinely.
“He’s near the top of the class, especially in reading!” Ann gushed. She really lit up when she talked about her little boy. It was something I immediately found endearing.
It was really nice to hear her be so proud of him. I honestly wished Carly could have a mother like that. Kimberly was doing her best, but she wasn’t Carly’s mother. No one could replace her mother, but steady female role-models could only really be a good thing as far as I concerned.
The more I knew about Ann, the more I got to know about Ann, the more I liked her. She was super sexy, that was obvious, but beauty was only skin deep. Without personality there really wasn’t much I found interesting in a woman. That wasn’t really a problem with Ann. I knew I’d only had limited experience with her — at least one of our encounters not ending very well — but from what I had seen, she was a strong, confident, open person.
