“Will you go out with me?” I asked her, searching her eyes.
“Of course I will. But I need to know your name first.” She laughed. God, I loved the sound.
“Harvey. Harvey Desmarais. And you?”
“Lex Carpenter.”
“Nice to meet you, Lex Carpenter.”
“And you, Mr. Desmarais. Now hand me your phone and I’ll put my number in it.”
I reached into my pocket, unlocked my phone, and handed to her. She added herself as a contact and handed it back to me.
“Next Saturday is Valentine’s Day. How about then?” I asked.
“Perfect. Text me the details.”
“I will. Bye, Lex.”
“Bye.” She bit her lip again and damn, did I want to kiss it so fucking bad.
But there was a time and place, and this wasn’t it with her nephew in the car.
I watched her get into her car before I headed for my own. My stomach rumbled. I should pick up a pizza on my way home. Paws, my calico cat, probably wanted some dinner too. He never let me forget when it was his time to eat.
As I drove home, I thought of nothing but her. As I ate my pizza and fed Paws, I thought of nothing but her. As the weekend ended and another work week began, I thought of nothing but her. As I navigated the trails of the mountains, helping guests read maps, and find which trail was best for seeing birds, or seeing the best views, I thought of nothing but her.
I wasn’t a very outgoing guy. More like a grumpy loner who kept to himself, only being friendly to people when I needed to be at work. I spent most of the rest of my time at home with my cat, catching the latest movie, picking up takeout, and that’s about it. I called off love a long time ago, so it felt strange to have feelings for someone. Strong feelings. It was surreal to be taking someone on a date this weekend. And especially on Valentine’s Day.
But I planned the best date I could think of, with reservations at a nice restaurant, a bottle of champagne, a box of chocolates, a bouquet of red roses, and the best part?
Learning everything there was to know about Lex Carpenter.
CHAPTER THREE
Lex
“You got hiton at the movies with my son in tow?!” Millie exclaimed as she poured us another glass of wine.
I tilted my head to the side. “Come on, would I ever put Dylan in danger? I got him in the car before I had that type of conversation.”
“I know you wouldn’t. So, tell me what happened!” Millie sat down with a plop and took a sip of her wine.
“Well, it started with a few popcorn incidents inside the theater. We had a couple of spills and at one point I tripped and fell into his lap.” I laughed at the memory.
“No way! You’re lying! You tripped?!”
We both burst into laughter. When I arrived at my sister’s house, she offered me dinner. I helped her get Dylan bathed and into bed before we came down for some wine. She had a spare bedroom I could crash in if I had too much. I only lived a few minutes away, but it didn’t matter when it came to alcohol. “Yep! Landed right in his lap, popcorn flying around for a second time! I’m telling you, sis, the people in the theater must’ve hated us.”
“I’m sure because I would’ve too.” Millie said over the rim of her glass between giggles.
“Ha. It was your son who started it.”
Millie’s mouth dropped, and we both hysterically laughed.
“Thankfully, there were no more spills, and we enjoyed the rest of the movie in silence. And when we were walking out, there he was, standing off to the side in the lobby. He pretended like he was checking out the movie preview, but I knew it was all a front. I asked him to walk us to the car. I got Dylan buckled in and finished talking to him outside. I called him out on waiting for me and asked him if he wanted to ask me out.” I grinned like the cat who got all the milk.
My sister held up her hand for a high five. “You go, sis! Taking charge. I love it.”
