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“Divorced,” she says. “My mom remarried a while ago and moved to California. My dad is still local, though, and he’s my kids’ absolutely favorite person.”
“That’s awesome.” He smiles. “I’m pretty sure my momma is slowly giving up hope of any of us giving her grandbabies.”
“You don’t want kids?” I ask. My stomach clenches as I wait for his answer, though I have no idea why. Why should I care if this guy wants kids or not? After tomorrow, he will be a distant memory.
I can say those words all that I want, but I can’t deny the little voice in my head telling me that this is something more than just a two-and-a-half-day fling.
That’s just wishful thinking, though.
“I’d love to have kids,” he replies, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “I love kids. Sometimes, my job just makes it hard to get close to people.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean some women aren’t okay with the fact that I travel a lot. They may not entirely trust the decisions that I make when I’m away from them.”
I’m not really sure what to say to that. The curiosity in me wants to just ask if there’s any merit to that. But quite frankly, it’s none of my business. Tanner doesn’t seem like the type of man who would cheat, but I’ve known this guy for like a millisecond, so what do I know? It’s like I have a great barometer for choosing men, either.
I decide just to keep my mouth shut, but apparently, my face gives me away.
“Just in case you’re wondering, Erin, no, I haven’t cheated on a woman when I’m on the road. I’ve never cheated on a woman period.”
“I wasn’t—” I stammer.
“It’s alright.” He gives me a reassuring smile. “It’s a valid question.”
“Must get lonely to be on the road that much,” I say.
“Sometimes. But I mean, most of the time, I’m exhausted in the evenings. I usually work about twelve hours a day to try to stay ahead of schedule, so I pass out pretty early. Sometimes, if I’m single and horny, I’ll go out for a while, but if I have someone waiting for me back home, no way.”
“Sounds like you’re a good man, Tanner Samson. Some woman is going to be very lucky to have you,” I tell him.
“Thank you for that, gorgeous. But as far as I’m concerned that’s the absolute least that a man should do. Being faithful should be a no-brainer.”
Well, I guess it SHOULD be.
Tanner fixes us a couple of plates and takes them to the living room. We get comfortable around the coffee table and dig in.
“This is incredible,” I tell him after the first bite.
“Glad you like it.”
We eat in silence for a few minutes before he speaks again. “You said your mom lives in California?”
I give a slow nod. My mom is a bit of a touchy subject, but I’ve opened up about quite a bit of touchy subjects already, so why not?
“Yeah, when I was a teenager, she left my dad. She ran off with some guy she met on the internet.”
“Ouch. Your dad got you in the divorce?”
“If you could call it that,” I say. “She didn’t want either of us. She just left us with nothing more than a note. My dad didn’t get divorce papers until she wanted to get remarried.”
“Has she ever apologized?”
“She’s tried. But I refuse to talk to her. I think Wes listened to her whole speech, but I don’t want to hear it. If she wanted a divorce, she could have done that without doing all the damage that she did.” Looking at Tanner, I point at him and add, “Don’t you dare tell me that I should try to make amends before it’s too late or any of that other crap.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He takes a couple more bites before asking, “Do you think that going through that with your mom is part of the reason you stayed in your marriage for so long?”
Avoiding his eyes, I respond, “Probably. I’m sure it messed me up probably more than I even realize.”
