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Why in the heck was he spouting out all this information? It wasn’t like him. But this was the mother of Mariana’s best friend. They were supposed to get to know each other a little, right? It had nothing to do with the fact he was experiencing some pangs of attraction for a fellow parent.
But instead of seeming taken aback by his infodump, she nodded. “I know what you mean. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have my mother to cover my back. She lives with us and I work from home, but still, there are times when I have a meeting or can’t get away. Speaking of which…”
She paused again. What was she thinking? The way she bit her bottom lip hinted at some kind of quandary.
“If you’re ever in a bind again, you could always call me. Just put me on Mariana’s authorized pickup list. I’m happy to help. Us single parents have to stick together, don’t you think?”
Well, that answered one question he had. Single? Check. Helpful? Check, check. “I may just take you up on that offer. Especially since our girls are already best friends.” He glanced at his watch. “In the meantime, I should run Mariana over to Mrs. Rodriguez. She’ll be frantic when the bus arrives without Mariana.”
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Alex. Sorry about before.”
“What happened before?” Lizzie’s eyes brightened as both she and Mariana studied the adults.
He loved the blush that crept up Cameron’s cheeks as she deflected her daughter’s question. “Nothing, I, uh, just nothing.”
“Yeah, nothing.” It really hadn’t been a big deal, but if Cameron wasn’t telling Lizzie that she’d slammed into him in the parking lot and dumped her purse all over the sidewalk, who was he to say? It was their little secret. And he liked having a secret with the blonde-haired single mother with the captivating blue eyes.
He escorted Mariana out the door, whipping out his phone to dash off a quick text to Mrs. Rodriguez. His sitter confirmed that she could watch Mariana late and apologized for not being able to fetch his daughter.
They settled into his SUV. “Now are you going to tell me what really made you miss the bus?”
“Nothing, Daddy. I really did forget my project.”
He wasn’t buying it. She and Lizzie were cooking something up. He just knew it. At the same time, he was comforted by the fact that this was a normal part of being ten.
As he popped his phone into the holder on the dash, he remembered he hadn’t asked for Cameron’s number. He’d need it, what with their kids being best friends. Yeah that was it. He must really be out of practice… or flustered from meeting Cameron. “Shoot.”
“What is it, Daddy?” Mariana threw him a questioning look in the rearview mirror.
“I forgot to get Mrs. Baldwin’s phone number. You know, for play dates and stuff.” And for asking her out on a date. But he wasn’t about to disclose that to his ten-year-old daughter.
He rolled down his window to get Cameron’s attention, but she had already whipped her little red Corolla out of the parking lot with a screech much like the one when she’d careened in. He couldn’t ask her now. “I’m sure we’ll see them again soon.”
* * *
“And then Mariana told me how her dad is so handsome when he wears his other uniform. But what did she call this uniform? Camo?”
“Camouflage,” Cameron muttered. Lizzie had been going on and on about Mariana’s father—Alex—since Cameron had hustled her daughter into the car. About how tall he was and how much Mariana loved him.
Of course, Mariana loved her father and he loved her. And if Cameron doubted that for one minute, she only had to look at the two of them together to be sure.
As for tall, she didn’t need Lizzie to point that out. She’d seen that for herself when she’d crashed into him like a bowling ball and he hadn’t even stumbled. He was a good six inches taller than her own five-foot-seven. Tall enough that she had to look up to see him. Josh had been taller... Stop comparing every man to Josh.
Alex was handsome with dark hair that was cut short on the sides and a little longer on the top, had a square jaw sporting a five-o’clock shadow at three in the afternoon, and umber colored eyes with gold flecks in them. Not that she’d noticed or anything. Who was she kidding? Of course, she had. Just like it was clear that he’d stared at her when they were talking. He probably thought she was a hot mess, pulling up in her ’I definitely work at home and you’re lucky I’m not in my pajamas’ outfit.
While he was perfectly put together… in his Army fatigues. Which meant he was off limits. At least to her. She’d been living in St. Judith long enough to know that men and women in the military were never around for very long. Between deployments and reassignments to other bases, they weren’t the stick-around type.
That just wouldn’t work for Cameron. She needed someone who was here to stay, but she hoped for Lizzie’s sake that Alex and Mariana stuck around for a long time.
“Mariana and I want to have a sleepover this weekend? Can we, Mom? Please.”
Cameron turned onto their street. “I don’t know. Let me discuss it with your grandmother first.”
“Yay. Thanks, Mom. Did you see Mr. Sanchez’s uniform? I guess he’s not Mr. Sanchez. I’ll have to ask Mariana what I should call him. What if he’s a general and I can call him General Sanchez? Wouldn’t that be cool?”
Cameron was always amazed at the speed at which her daughter could shift gears. From talking about a sleepover one minute, back to Alex in another.
“M-ooo-mmmm, did you hear me? I was talking about Mariana’s dad and how he’s in the Army.”
