AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How about you babysit for us tonight?” he asked Brandon.
“Ryder, that isn’t necessary,” Esme protested. “I’m sure your brother has plans.”
“Actually, my calendar is completely open for tonight.” Brandon placed his palms on the desk and leaned forward, much like their father did when making a point. “I have a rule against dating on Valentine’s Day. It gives the wrong impression if you know what I mean.”
Ryder knew exactly what his brother meant, which was also why he wouldn’t miss the chance to take out Esme.
“Be at the house at seven. We’ll get the boys down for bed, so you won’t have much to do.”
“I can handle whatever you need,” Brandon promised.
Esme looked slightly alarmed, and it was a toss-up whether that was in response to the thought of leaving her babies in Brandon’s care or the fact that Ryder had asked—well, not exactly asked, but made plans for them to go on a real date.
“But, Ry, even in a one-horse town like Chatelaine, you’ll be hard-pressed to get a dinner reservation on Valentine’s Day at this late date,” Brandon told him. “Unless you’re taking her out for popcorn and wings.”
“For the record, two horses are often hitched outside The Corral. And I’ve got a plan.”
Esme appeared as surprised by that news as Brandon. “You do?”
He nodded. Not quite yet, but he’d come up with one quickly.
“Then I’ll see you at seven,” Brandon confirmed.
Esme picked up the flowers Ryder still wished he would have bought her, and they headed for his car.
“I’m sorry I messed up this day,” he told her quietly. “I’m going to make it up to you.”
“You don’t have to do anything. You’re not even obligated to go out with me tonight. Ruby seemed nice. I saw her slip you her number during the meeting.”
“She did not.”
Esme reached forward and pulled a scrap of paper out of the front pocket of his button-down shirt. “She absolutely did when she took Chase from you.”
“I swear to God, I didn’t notice. I would have given it back to her if I had. I’m not interested in dating Ruby or anyone.”
They’d made it to the car by this point and silently latched the babies into their car seat bases. “Then why did you ask your brother to babysit?”
“I’m not interested in dating anyone but you,” he clarified.
She stared at him over the roof of the car. “Do you mean that?”
“Esme, do you think I’d sleep with you if I didn’t?”
“I thought we were friends with benefits,” she said, then ducked into the passenger seat like she didn’t want to meet his gaze.
He climbed in and hit the button to start the car but didn’t shift it into gear. “We could be more.”
“What kind of more are you talking about?”
He pulled out of the LC Club parking lot and glanced at the horizon. The swirling white clouds rolling in from the east seemed to mimic his mood, covering the sky like a thin veil. Esme’s question threw him for a loop. It should be simple enough to answer, but nothing felt straightforward to him when it came to matters of the heart.
Ryder didn’t want to make promises he couldn’t keep and wasn’t sure he felt ready to make any vow, not after how Steph had trampled his emotions. Yet deep down he also knew it wasn’t fair to compare that relationship with the one he and Esme shared. Falling for Stephanie had been a dive off a high cliff with nothing but rocks at the bottom to break his landing.
His feelings for Esme were different and more profound, but he didn’t know how to trust them or her. While Brandon was the one who took after their father in the obvious ways, Ryder still worried that he had enough Chandler Hayes in him to perpetually mess up his love life—and anyone who made the mistake of falling for him.
“Do we have to put labels on it?” he asked, trying to sound both confident and convincing. “We’re already living together and raising our sons. I enjoy being with you, Es, and I’m unsure how I’d manage parenthood alone. Let me take you out on a real date—your rules are fine for co-parenting, but we’ve been dealing with some big changes in our new reality. Maybe it’s time we loosen up and go with the flow.”
“You think I need to loosen up?” Her hands were gripped together in her lap, knuckles white from the tight hold. “My late husband also thought I needed to ‘loosen up.’ Those were the exact words he said to me before he walked out the door that final time.”
