“How are things actually going?” he asks.
“I think you’re single-handedly keeping me in business.”
“I bought about four arrangements,” he says.
“That day you bought me flowers was my only sale,” I mutter.
“Oh man.”
I sigh. “It’s okay. I have a plan. I just have to work up the nerve to do it.”
“Can I help you?” he asks.
I smile and drag my hand through his soft hair.I really like his hair.
“I’m sure your hands are full with Naomi.”
He smiles. “They are, but that’s okay. I’m happy to help.”
“Tell me more about Naomi.”
“What do you want to know?” he asks.
I want to know how he became a single dad, but that feels like a very intense conversation for a first date.
“I talked to her for five minutes. What’s she like?”
He smiles to himself and looks up at the moon. “She’s everything. She’s seven, almost eight, too smart for her own good, creative, and the type of little girl who plays in the mud in her princess dress.”
I laugh. “She sounds amazing.”
He grins with pride in his eyes. “Right now we’re working on roping and mutton busting for the fair coming up.”
I make a face. “Mutton busting?”
He chuckles and puts his hands on his hips. “You basically put a kid on a sheep and they hang on as tight as they can until they fall off.”
“And Naomi wants to do this?”
“Yep, she saw it last year and asked me to do it. I have to admit it’s pretty entertaining. She’s been working on roping because she sees us doing it,” he explains.
“Wow, and she’s able to hold on to the sheep?”
He nods excitedly. “We have a few sheep she practices with, and she’s always working with the fake cow, getting the rope over its head. I’m afraid she’s going to want to compete in the rodeo as she gets older.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” I ask him.
He shrugs. “I did it, my cousins did it. I won’t stop her, but I’ll probably be a nervous wreck the whole time.”
“I like that you encourage her to go for it.”
He shrugs, and it’s dark, but I see something pass through his green eyes before he says, “I want to be the best I can for her.”
“She’s a lucky girl.”
“Nah, I’m just a lucky guy,” he says with a smile.
I shift in my seat, feeling a little restless. Of all the dates I’ve been on, I’ve never felt this way with a man. It’s scary.
