‘If he’s brave enough to enter the temple of oestrogen and put up with all of us, then I say he’s already proving he’s a keeper,’ Brittany said.
‘Okay, well, maybe tomorrow night?’
‘I’ll swap my shift at work,’ Savannah said, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the bench and kissing her mother’s cheek. ‘Don’t forget the concealer this morning,’ she added, peering at Jenny’s face closely.
‘I’ll use the trowel,’ Jenny promised dryly.
‘See, I told you it wasn’t going to be a big deal. Tomorrow night will be great,’ Nick said when she called him.
‘I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.’
‘I’m a trained infantry soldier—I’m pretty sure I can handle a few hours with your kids.’
‘Hmm,’ Jenny murmured, saying goodbye and getting into her car to head off to work.
Nick paused as he parked in the Haywards’ driveway. Surely his hands weren’t actuallysweating? What the hell was this? There was nothing to be nervous about and yet now that he was here, his bravado seemed to have flown, leaving him with a sudden attack of nerves. This was stupid. It wasn’t as though his and Jenny’s whole future relationship depended upon making a good impression with her daughters or anything … Only, he realised, it probably did.
Freaking man up and get out of the car, he ordered himself. Everything was going to be fine. It was just a simple dinner.
Before he could knock on the door, it opened and Jenny’s youngest stood in the doorway, looking him up and down.
‘Hi. I’m Chloe.’
‘Hey. Nick,’ he said, feeling his pep talk fade away under her stern blue gaze, before she gave a tight smile and led him inside.
Jenny came out of the kitchen looking a little flustered before she paused to take a breath. She walked across to him and gave him an awkward hug. ‘Nick, these are my two other daughters, Brittany and Savannah, and my best friend, Beth.’
‘Nice to see you again,’ he said, nodding at the women. He’d sort of met Brittany and Beth at the pub when they’d gone out to dinner with Jenny recently and Savannah at her party.
‘Do you want a drink? Coffee? Beer?’ Jenny asked.
‘Is it too early for a beer?’ he asked, holding her gaze and trying to send her a silent message that everything was okay.
‘Hell, no,’ Beth said. ‘Follow me, I know where they keep all the good stuff around here.’
He did see Jenny smile then, and he was filled with confidence once more.
Later, as they were settled with beverages, a large, somewhat motley cat sauntered into the lounge room, stopping when it set its golden-eyed stare on Nick, who was perched on the front edge of the lounge. Nick dropped his hands and clicked his fingers to get the cat’s attention, grateful for a distraction. The cat seemed to size him up thoughtfully with its cool, unblinking gaze before it slowly padded its way across the room to flop down on the carpet in front of him with a definite un-cat-like grace, exposing a fluffy white stomach.
‘Go on, pat her on the tummy,’ Savannah invited and Nick reached out to do so.
‘No! Don’t!’ Jenny gasped from behind him on her way into the room with a tray of food.
He pulled his hand away quickly and sat back in the chair, noting the wide-eyed expressions focused on him from everyone else in the room. ‘What?’
‘Savannah!’ Jenny snapped.
‘Well, I didn’t think he was actually going to do it,’ Savannah sniffed.
‘I was only going to pat her,’ Nick said, still confused by the reaction.
‘The last person who touched Fat Cat’s tummy almost lost a hand,’ Brittany told him.
‘Lost a hand … to a cat?’ he repeated doubtfully.
‘They did not,’ Jenny said, rolling her eyes.
‘He had sepsis and almost died,’ Brittany drawled.
