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“How apropos.” I placed my hand on Patrick’s thigh. I wasn’t sure what his workout routine consisted of, but he was as lean and muscular as ever. It truly was shaping up to be the most wonderful time of the year. “Maybe you should sing along.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh, come on, your rendition of ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ at that karaoke bar was classic.”
“You did karaoke, Dad?” Bridgette sounded half-horrified, half-intrigued.
Patrick cleared his throat while flipping on his turn signal. “Well—”
“Not only did he belt out the tunes, he did some pretty snazzy dance moves to go along with it.” Mostly a lot of pointing at me, letting me know how much he wanted me for Christmas. It was one of the best nights of my life. I had a feeling that playful, uninhibited Patrick still existed, buried under all the lies and hurt. I was going to do my best to dig him out.
“What?” Rory twisted his face, disgusted. “In public?”
Patrick gave me athank youlook, but I could see the glint in his eye that spoke of him wanting to be that man again.
“Don’t do that tonight, please,” Rory begged his dad.
“I think you’re safe, son.”
“Unfortunately, the skating rink doesn’t have a karaoke machine, but Charlotte and I do,” I sang. Sometimes when we got silly, and probably a little tipsy—after Jameson went to bed, of course—we would pull it out for fun. Charlotte could do a mean Britney Spears.
“Can we use it?” Bridgette asked.
“Of course. I think your dad should show off his skills.”
Patrick turned into the skating rink, cringing. “I don’t think so.”
“Come on, Dad,” Bridgette chided him.
Patrick pulled into one of the only empty parking spots left. “We’ll see.”
As soon as he parked the car, his kids jumped out. I went to open my door, but Patrick grabbed my hand. “Not so fast. You are a troublemaker.”
I leaned in toward him. “I just want you to be happy. The man I knew who jumped up on that stage. He was happy.”
“The man staring into your beautiful brown eyes is happy.”
He always knew the right things to say. I didn’t know my stomach could flutter so much anymore. “We’re still going to karaoke.”
“Fine,” he acquiesced. “But only if you promise me a private performance. I have a good memory too. And I seem to recall a certain someone singing, ‘I Know What You Want for Christmas.’ How did it go? ‘I know just what you want for Christmas, but I don’t know how to wrap it up?’”
“That song is about a puppy.” I bit my lip.
“Uh-huh, says the woman who dropped her towel to show off her bikini while singing said lyrics.”
Yep. I did that. I could still hardly believe it. I was never so playful with Jared. He had never inspired me to show that side of myself. “Is it getting warm in here?” I waved a hand in front of my face.
Patrick chuckled before stealing a kiss. “Thank you for the memories,” he spoke against my lips. “I look forward to the new ones we’ll make.”
“Me too.”
Rory pounded on the window. “Yo, knock it off. If you fog up the windows, I’ll pretend like I don’t know you. Like forever.”
“That sounds like fun.” Patrick undid his seat belt.
I hurried out, not wanting to make his kids feel uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure I would appreciate it if I saw my dad kissing someone other than my mom—you know, if heaven forbid something happened to my mother.
Patrick met us around the car. We all seemed to look at the rink, snowflakes dotting our noses and cheeks, knowing this was kind of a big deal. This was our first foray into public as a, well ...familywasn’t the right word. Though I loved the sound of it. My biggest dream in life was to have a family of my own. It was the first time in a long time I’d thought it might be a possibility. I wasn’t exactly sure what we were; regardless, this was an enormous deal. Especially considering everyone did think we were going to be a family. It could happen, right?
