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I start to turn, but the woman will not be deterred. “Oh. Well, in that case, we could help each other out.”
Yuliana has put me directly between her and the stranger. She leans around me slightly to see the woman before she darts back behind the shield of my body. It’s a small thing, but I’m happy to be her protector in this moment.
“How so?” I sigh.
The woman bats her lashes at me and rolls her unnaturally red lips together. “Well, what if we met up and had a playdate? Maybe a local park or something? The kids could play while you and I… talk.”
The emphasis she places on the word “talk” makes it clear she has a lot more than talking in mind.
Suddenly, she bursts into a nervous laugh. “I know I’m being, like, so forward. It’s just that there aren’t a lot of men who are good with kids, you know? You’re kind of a unicorn.”
This woman has seen me for thirty seconds in an elevator with Yuliana and that’s enough for her to hit on me? I knew kids could be used for picking up women, but I had no idea exactly how effective it could be.
“Unfortunately, this unicorn is off the market.”
The woman frowns, her eyes glancing to my bare left hand.
I raise it in a friendly wave. “Best of luck to you with your niece and nephew.”
I take Yuliana’s hand again and head for the front doors. Once we’re on the sidewalk, Yuliana tugs on my fingers. “Who was that lady?” she asks, whispering even though the woman is probably on her way upstairs with her teacup dog at this point.
I shrug. “I have no idea.”
“Was she your wife?”
I bark out a laugh, but when I look down at Yuli, she’s staring up at me as serious as can be.
“No,” I tell her. “That woman was not my wife. She wishes, though.”
Her eyes go wide. “She does?”
“Lots of women do.”Your mother most of all.But that’s a conversation for another day.
I turn into the ice cream shop conveniently located next door. “Here we are. Ice cream.”
Yuliana gasps, forgetting all about the previous conversation.
The inside of the shop smells like waffle cones and sugar. A bell above the door dings our entrance and a red-headed woman bursts out of the back. She has a ruffled pink apron tied around her waist.
“Hello there! What can I get you today?”
Yuliana pulls back, shifting behind me to hide.
“Oh,” the woman says, a sympathetic smile playing on her lips. “Is someone a little shy?”
Yuliana withdraws even more, and I suddenly want to punt this nice woman out onto the curb. Instead, I smile back at the woman. “She isn’t shy; she’s smart. You never know what kind of psychos are out in the world.”
The redhead’s smile falters. Wisely, she takes a step away from me, eyeing me with a new sense of caution. “Do you know what you want?”
I turn away from her and kneel down in front of Yuliana. I can see the excitement still brimming in her eyes, but she won’t let it out in the other woman’s presence.
“What flavor do you like?”
Her eyes shift to the ceiling as she thinks. “Um… cherry and chocolate and sprinkles.”
“I don’t think that’s an actual flavor, Yuli.”
The indignant frown she tosses my way tells me it must be a flavor and I should find a way to get it for her post-haste.
