The brightness of her smile reached her brown eyes. “Really?”
“Yeah. I was curious if maybe you’d want to get something to eat sometime. Maybe go out for a drink, too.”
It was nearly cuteness overload as she let out a little squeal. It also gave Little vibes.
Maybe his Daddy radar was correct, after all.
“I’d like that,” she said. “When?”
Kendrick grinned. “How about tonight?”
She nodded before turning around to presumably go get his pie.
He watched her the entire way.
Damn, she was too cute.
Chapter Nine
“What are you doing, Samantha?” she asked herself as he studied her reflection in the chipped, smoky mirror.
The employee restroom was tucked in the back of the kitchen. The diner itself was now a NO SMOKING zone, along with most of Los Angeles, but the cooks still holed up in the tiny space and lit up. Because of that, it was heavy with years’ worth of cigarette smoke and the mirror had a yellow tinge to it.
But it was still enough for her to see the worried expression on her face.
“You can’t go out with him! He’ll figure out who you are sooner or later!”
She tried to keep her voice low. Conversations with herself were pretty normal. There wasn’t anyone else around to talk to. She didn’t want any of her coworkers hearing, though.
Gripping the sides of the porcelain sink, she worked hard to steady her nerves. She wasn’t sure what all she was feeling. There was some excitement in there, to be sure. How could there not be? She’d been asked out by the sexiest man on the planet!
There was some nervousness roiling around inside her, too.
She knew enough about the Daddy Guard to know they came from law enforcement backgrounds. Cops didn’t miss much.They were always observant and stuff. And Kendrick had already said she looked familiar the other night in the diner. He was probably going to figure out who she actually was before too long.
So why was she giving him that chance to? She should have cut her losses, said no to the date, and left it at that.
Yet she hadn’t.
She couldn’t.
Everything inside her was aching for that time with him.
Normally, she wouldn’t think any man would want her. Especially a guy like Kendrick. But he’d come to the diner, seeking her out. The date was his idea. Clearly he was into her.
Why? Well, she didn’t understand that. But she was thankful that he was.
Drawing a deep breath, she exhaled slowly and let go of the sink. Standing straighter, she looked into her own eyes through the film of the mirror. “It’s one date. Just be careful what you say. Go. Have fun.”
The advice did little to calm her nerves. That’s when she realized it wasn’t just excitement and nervousness she was experiencing.
There was a heavy dose of guilt, too.
She—or rather Tonya—was an absolute terror at Auntie Athena’s nursery! Just hours before, Kendrick had been calling her out over her blatant dishonesty. While it had made her mad, she couldn’t blame him.
Still… just thinking about it made her anger come roaring back.
Where did he get off doing that? Jerk!
