“I just… I hope you know I wouldn’t date while you’re here,” Theo said. In truth, the thrill of a new woman each week had started to wear off. The shine was particularly disappearing the more he spent time with Nina. Somehow, while she played with Jack in jeans and a sweatshirt, or made pancakes in her pajamas, or winked at Theo as they shared a joke, she looked more beautiful than any of the women he’d dated. Even though the two of them weren’t really dating.
“I hope not,” Nina said. “That would ruin the ruse, right?”
“Right.”
“I just wonder… you truly never found anyone you wanted to settle down with in all that dating?”
Theo sighed. “No. Or, more accurately, I really wasn’t looking, and neither were the women I was dating. We all understood that it was just a temporary, fun thing, not something long-term. I never wanted that.”
“Right.” Nina nodded. “You told me. Epsilon is your baby, and all that.”
“Exactly.” Theo took another bite. As he chewed, he searched for a way to change the topic. Discussing his dating history was making him uncomfortable, though he wasn’t sure why — Nina was right that they weren’t dating. He quickly landed on the obvious option and gestured to the plate with his fork. “This is really good, by the way.”
“Thanks. Want to know my secret ingredient?” She leaned forward, blue eyes twinkling.
Theo couldn’t hide his smile, “Is it love?”
She burst into laughter. “No. Oyster sauce.”
Theo chuckled too. “I guess that makes more sense.”
Nina stood, stretched, and went back to the kitchen. As she got the mug out of the cupboard, she glanced back at Theo over her shoulder.
“There’s still a lot I don’t know about you. Have you always lived in Boston?”
“No, I grew up in Springfield,” Theo said. “How about you?”
“I grew up in Seattle,” Nina told him. She put the mug on the counter, started the kettle, and turned to lean against the counter and look at Theo. There was something in those blueeyes, and Theo wondered what had sparked her sudden interest in his backstory. They hadn’t discussed much of this before.
“Wow, you’re a long way from home.” Theo tilted his head. “What brought you here?”
“Jack’s dad. He got a job with a company in Boston and begged me to come with him. I did, and then…” She shrugged. “He left us.”
“And you stayed?” Theo was impressed. “I would have hightailed it back to Seattle.”
Nina chuckled. “I was eight months pregnant, so there was no ‘hightailing’ anywhere. And I’d been making friends with other moms-to-be and settling in, so it just felt right to stay. What broughtyouto Boston?”
“College,” Theo explained. “I went to college just outside the city, and I liked it a lot more than Springfield. Plus, I started my business while I was studying, so I got tied to the city pretty quickly.”
“You started Epsilon in college?” Nina asked. The kettle boiled, and she poured water into her mug.
“I did.”
“And you’re…”
“Thirty-four now,” Theo answered her unfinished question.
“I’m thirty-two,” Nina told him. She sat back down, her head tilted as though trying to look at him from a different angle. “So, you really started Epsilon yourself, as a college student.”
Theo grinned. “You don’t believe me?”
“I truly, honestly thought that the company came from family money,” Nina said. Theo laughed.
“No. Haven’t I told you? Boston old-money families don’t like me. That’s part of why I needed you.”
“But you’re so…” Nina waved a hand.
“Sophisticated? Handsome? Sexy?” Theo joked. She rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of pink in her cheeks.
