They’d obviously set him up on this dinner date with Kinsey. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if his dad was the mastermind behind it since he liked Kinsey so much.
With a scowl, Tyler stuffed his phone away.
“What’s wrong?” Kinsey paused in perusing the one-page menu, the waiter having stepped away to give them a few moments more while they waited for the rest of his family, who’d never planned to be there in the first place.
“Everyone else cancelled the dinner plans.”
“I didn’t realize Emberly had invited anyone else.”
“She told you the dinner was with her?”
Kinsey nodded.
“And she told me we were having one of our sibling dinners.”
“So…?”
“Which means Dad is playing matchmaker again.”
“No…” She glanced at the empty chairs at the table, at him, and then down at her fancy gown. This time when she lifted her gaze, her cheeks had some pink in them. “I had no idea. I was just waiting for Emberly when you showed up.”
“And I was waiting for all my siblings.”
“Believe me, Tyler. I had nothing to do with this and didn’t know anything about it.”
He reached out a hand and touched her arm, hoping to reassure her. “I would never blame you for this.”
“Why would T.W. do this?” Her brow furrowed. “We told him we don’t like each other.”
“Maybe he wants us to work on being friends?”
“Don’t worry.” She started to push back from the table and stand. “I’ll set T.W. straight.”
With his hand still on her arm, he latched on. “Wait.”
She halted halfway up, her eyes flashing with determination.
He’d actually been having a nice time and wasn’t ready for the evening to end. It wouldn’t hurt to have dinner with her, would it? At the very least, he’d make his dad happy, and that was really all that mattered. “Since we’re here, we may as well eat.”
She hesitated, not standing but also not sitting back down. “I don’t want to impose, Tyler. You were expecting to have dinner with your siblings, not your dad’s nurse.”
“You were expecting Emberly and not your patient’s bossy son.”
A smile hovered on her lips. Had he seen her smile yet? Maybe small ones directed at his son. But she’d never given him a smile.
“C’mon,” he said softly and in his most convincing voice. “The chef here is out of this world. I guarantee you’ll love the food.”
She lowered herself back to her chair and picked up her menu. “What do you recommend?”
He breathed out a tight breath. Was he relieved that she wasn’t leaving and he’d get to spend the evening with her?
That was ridiculous. He wasn’t happy about being ditched by his siblings. He’d been looking forward to talking to them.
Yet he’d be lying to himself if he denied the thrill that was coursing through his veins at the prospect of spending more time with Kinsey.
A voice at the back of his head shouted at him that he shouldn’t do it, that he’d sworn off beautiful women, that he didn’t want to be attracted to someone like his ex-wife again. Butas his gaze slid back to Kinsey, he couldn’t stop himself from quietly closing the door on the warning.
Just one night with her. That was all he’d take. Then he’d go out on his date with Nettie and forget all about Kinsey.
