I took it as: I’m single and not looking forward to reliving marriage any time in the next decade.
I had only been in one actual relationship in my life. I had dated one other man for a little while but didn’t count that. Since then, I had gone on another handful of one-off dates. I had even tried the online dating app that was more of a hookup site, and that was where I had met the Daddy guy. So, I thought I was pretty good at recognizing the look in a man’s eyes when he wasn’t ready for commitment.
At least not commitment with me.
The man who had sat across from me hadn’t been looking forward to settling down in any way in the near future. Not even close. None of his words had given me the impression he felt otherwise either. He’d said all the right words and told me just how “cute” he thought I was, but that had been it.
“Nothing bad happened?” he asked carefully. A little too carefully, really.
Honestly, I loved it. It was a nice reminder after yesterday.
I shook my head, my ears picking up on the sound of two familiar, heavy footsteps coming from down the hall. Nothing had happened except for the fact he kept trying to get me to agree that I was basically looking for a booty call, but I wasn’t about to tell Mr. Cooper that, at least in those words. I lowered my voice just a fraction. “No, he just wasn’t looking for something serious, and I could tell. And I’m not… trying on clothes that I don’t want to buy, you know?”
Mr. Cooper’s smile was gentle as he nodded. “I don’t envy you this adventure, little moon.”
“I wish I didn’t have to do this, Mr. C, trust me, but hey, maybe the next guy will sweep me off my feet and treat me the way you treat Lydia.” I took a bite of my food and ignored all the things that were wrong with the taste of it. “Maybe my luck will finally take a turn for the better,” I covered my mouth and told him.
Bad dates happened. I’d heard about them enough from the guys at the shop. I’d heard it enough from my sisters. I wasn’t going to give up after the first one.
I was just not going to trust Grandpa Gus again to fix me up any time soon.
I’d only gotten one more bite in when a voice I was too familiar with spoke up. “Luna, you got time to go with me to the store and pick out some paint?”
Go to the store and pick up some paint with Rip? For the first time ever? After the partial weekend we had spent together?
After he had given me so much crap yesterday?
I chewed the rest of the lo mein I had in my mouth and turned my attention to my other boss, finding him standing there with his hands on his hips over his coveralls, his undershirt a navy color today. Heading into the kitchen, he moved that big body behind the chair I was in to grab something from the fridge, before he kept talking. “I wanna pick out some paint for the GTO and the SS you found, but I don’t like anything in the catalogue or the samples you got.”
To give him credit, he hadn’t been even a little weird with me that morning. I had brought him his coffee, muttered a “Hi, Rip” that was more out of good manners than anything. He had been working and had called out behind me, “Luna.” Like nothing had happened. Then I had said, still grumbling, “Leaving your coffee on the bench.” And he had replied, “Thanks.”
And that had been that. Normal. Fine… as if yesterday hadn’t happened.
So it was with that, that I told him, sounding pretty freaking nonchalant, “I can get you the address to my favorite shop.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Cooper glance between the two of us—probably surprised I didn’t immediately say yes—but I pretended like I didn’t see his movement.
What neither one of us could ignore was Rip saying, “I want you to go with me.”
He wanted me to go with him.
Mr. Cooper eyed both of us again, and I wasn’t sure who was more surprised by Rip’s words. Me or him. He was always such a stickler forpeople getting paid to actually work.Two people going for paint? That was unheard of. Him inviting me twice to go somewhere with him in less than a month? It was practically a miracle.
My gut said he was doing it because he felt bad.
“You want me to go with you?” I echoed, still trying to process his invitation and why he’d even extended it.
His “Yeah” came out more like “duh.”
I picked up some more noodles with my fork and shoved them into my mouth. Because I was hungry, not because I was at a loss for words.
Definitely not because a part of me wanted to be petty and tell him thatno,I didn’t want to go anywhere with him because he’d been so mean the day before.
Not me. I was better than that. Yup.
He was still hanging out by the fridge when he kept going. “You got time, don’t you?”
If I said I was just busy enough, it would sound like I didn’t have enough to do. If I said I had time, it would sound like I didn’t have enough to do. And if I told him I was barely catching up after the crap with the Mustang, then I would sound like I was harboring some resentment toward him.
