“Yes.” Troy pumps his uncasted arm. “It’s really cool.”
“What color is it?” Lydia asks, as they wait by the back door.
Derek grabs their juice cups and opens the door for them. A small swing set takes up the corner of the yard with toys strewn about.
It looks like my backyard—minus the pool.
“Seems like those two are fast friends,” Derek points out as Troy starts showing Lydia around. “We’ll have to have another playdate.”
“Only a playdate?” I ask.
As far as good days go, this one has been pretty close to perfect. Being a single mom, most days, I’m run into the ground. Between twelve-hour shifts and then taking care of Lydia, I’m exhausted.
I wouldn’t trade my daughter for anything, but it’s nice to have days like this. Where I can spend time with her and someone who gets it.
It doesn’t hurt that Derek is easy on the eyes.
It’s what has me taking a risk I usually wouldn’t take.
“What are you thinking, Sutton?”
Derek shifts next to me, shielding the sun from his eyes to look at me. I don’t know how he looks like that and is still single, but I’m glad for it.
“A date.”
“A date? Without the kids?” he asks.
“Exactly a date.” I smile up at him. “Dinner, drinks. Just the two of us. You know, normal date things.”
Derek laughs, a deep and throaty sound. Something that I could easily become addicted to. “I know what a date is, Sutton. I wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”
“So, what do you say, Derek?”
“It’s a date, Sutton.”
Chapter Six
SUTTON
“Dinner is already in the fridge. I laid out fresh pj’s for Lydia, and her library books?—”
“Are exactly where they always are,” my mom cuts me off.
I blow out a breath, swiping one last coat of lip gloss on in the mirror.
“I haven’t gone out on my own in a long time,” I tell her.
She drops her hands on her hips, eyeing me. “And this isn’t the first time I’ve watched my granddaughter.”
Who chooses that moment to come running into my bedroom. “Wow. You look pretty, Mommy.”
“Thanks, bug.” I drop a kiss into her unruly curls. They’re still wet from the bath I gave her earlier. “If you’re good for Gram, maybe she’ll let you watch a movie.”
“With popcorn?” She eyes me.
Girl is always angling for something.
“Yes, with popcorn.”
