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Riley tossed the ball back and he and Nate played while she watched. Jen didn’t want to risk messing up her record after that perfect throw. She had so much fun that she forgot that she was going to be cautious around Nate.
Her cell phone rang and she glanced at the ID to see that it was Marcia.
“Hey, there,” Jen said by way of greeting.
“Hello. Where are you guys? Your car is here but you aren’t.”
“We are at the park playing catch.”
“Catch? You stink at that.”
“Ha, that’s what you know. I’m much better today.”
“Is Nate with you?”
“Yes, he came for lunch and then took Riley here to play.”
“Really? That doesn’t seem like the man I met last night,” Marcia said.
“There’s more to him than meets the eye,” Jen said, watching Riley and Nate toss the ball back and forth. “We’ll be home in a little while.”
“Okay. Thanks for watching Riley this afternoon,” Marcia said.
“I enjoy it. I love him.”
“I know, but thanks all the same.”
“It’s no biggie,” Jen said, hanging up the phone.
Nate led the way back over to her. “Was that your sister?”
“Yes. Mommy’s home, Riley, you ready to go and see her?”
“Yes! I can’t wait to show her how I can throw.”
“I’m sure she will be very impressed,” Jen said.
“Will you stay and throw with me, Mr. Nate? I don’t think Auntie Jen will be a good partner for that,” Riley said looking up at Nate.
“I’d love to, bud. I can’t stay long, though. I’ve got a busy night ahead of me.”
Riley tipped his head to the side. “Do you work at night?”
“That’s when the club is open.”
“You work with Auntie Jen?” he asked. “Are you a dancer?”
Nate laughed. “No. I own the club with my brothers.”
Riley nodded. “Sounds like a good job.”
Nate patted the little boy on the shoulder. “It’s pretty good but there isn’t enough time for baseball or fishing.”
“But you are the boss,” Riley said. “You should change the rules.”
Jen laughed at the way Riley said it. That made perfect sense to him, but she’d love to see Nate tell Justin and Cam that they needed more time for fun. She was pretty sure those two would think he’d gone off the deep end since Nate’s life was already one big party.
“I should do that,” Nate agreed. When they got back to the house Nate walked them to the door.
Jen watched her nephew go inside, then turned to Nate. She couldn’t read his expression but he’d kept his keys in his hand and had almost turned to walk back to his car. It was as if he couldn’t wait to get away from here.
“Nate?”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks for everything you did with Riley today.”
“No problem. I think he’s the first kid I’ve been around since I was a child.”
“My life is so different than yours,” she said. But hadn’t she truly known that from the beginning? They came from different worlds and that was part of why she liked him so much.
“Yes, it is. Well, I’ve got to go,” he said.
“Bye.”
She watched him walk away, realizing how good Nate was at making himself fit into whatever the situation was. Because it was only as he drove away that she realized he’d been the perfect uncle figure to Riley the way he’d been the perfect date to her last night.
She thought he was multifaceted but now she was afraid he was simply a chameleon used to changing his colors wherever he was. No matter how kind he was to Riley, Nate hadn’t really wanted to spend time with her nephew and that, more than anything else, should serve as a reminder that he wasn’t the settling-down kind.
Eight
“Hello, boys, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet with me,” Cam said as he joined Justin and Nate in the VIP lounge at the back of the club on the first floor.
The place was empty except for staff as they had an hour before it opened.
“Not a problem. What’s up?”
“We need to start working on the tenth anniversary celebration in May. Justin, I’d like you to reach out to the local community and try to get them involved in this. They are bringing in some big-shot lawyer from Manhattan to oppose overexpansion so if you can make sure they aren’t up to anything that’s going to cause us trouble, I’d appreciate it.”
“I’m on it, big bro. There is a community open house tonight and I’m going to attend to see what’s on everyone’s mind.”
