Obviously, Pip’s feelings had been hurt when Scott brushed off her question, then basically told her to go away.
“Yes,” Belle replied. “Because he was rude.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” Jerry said, before turning to Victor. The two men launched into a ten-minute conversation, comparing notes about Jerry’s stint in the Marines with Victor’s dad’s, seeing if their paths might have ever crossed. When they finished, he asked, “Pip, how about a cookie for the road?”
“Yes!” Pip yelled, as Belle crossed her arms.
“Jerry. You don’t think there was enough sugar in the lemonade?”
He winked at her. “Maybe if you came around more often, I wouldn’t have to get all my Pip spoiling done in one visit.”
Jerry and Pip walked back to the counter so that she could study her options, leaving Belle alone with Victor.
“He’s a nice guy,” Victor said, watching as Jerry patiently waited for Pip to make her choice.
Belle nodded, not willing to let Victor off the hook so easily, even if hedidsave her from a shitty date.
“So you went to Target?” she asked.
Victor nodded. “There’s one near here.”
She rolled her eyes. “And there are three others all much closer to your house.”
Victor didn’t even bother to look contrite. “I gave you two hours alone with him. Figured if you’re going to get serious about dating someone, you should see how they are with kids…and Pip.”
Belle wanted to stress that him crashing her date wasn’t okay, but it was hard to argue with logic like that, because he was right. Seeing prospective suitors with kids was a good idea, considering Pip was such a huge part of her life, and she wanted children of her own someday. Scott’s visible annoyance over Pip’s presence and her questions had been the last and biggest red flag, the final strike against him.
“Even so…you crashed my date.” It was a weak argument because, while she wasn’t going to admit it to him, Victor had offered her the save she’d been looking for.
“I could tell before we walked in here that you weren’t into the guy. You looked bored as shit, Sunshine.”
Belle glanced outside to where Victor’s car was parked at the curb across the street. Given her seat by the window, he probablyhadgotten a good look. Belle doubted that by the end of her eternal date, she’d been any better at schooling her expressions than Pip and her crinkled nose.
“If it looked like I’d been having fun, would you have stayed away?” she asked.
Victor shook his head. “Nope.”
“Because of the Pip test?”
Victor grunted, as if that was enough of a reply. It wasn’t, but Pip bounded back toward them, a large snickerdoodle cookie in her hand.
“You couldn’t find a bigger one?” Belle asked Jerry, only half joking.
“No. And believe me, I tried,” he retorted with a wink.
Victor snorted, his version of a laugh.
“Okay, well, my car is just outside,” Belle said. “Why don’t I follow you guys home and we can go swimming before dinner, Pip?”
She bounced up and down excitedly, shouting, “Okay!” before giving Jerry a big hug, and thanking him for the drink and cookie…without being prompted.
Belle was so proud of how polite the little girl was, and it was clear Victor felt the same way when he ruffled her hair affectionately.
The drive home was decidedly less nerve-racking than her trip to the coffee shop, and the crappy date was completely forgotten before she’d made it a mile down the road.
Instead, her thoughts were consumed by Victor’s arrival, her overactive, over-horny imagination still pretending he’d crashed the date because he was jealous, not because he was overprotective or trying to help her weed out unsavory candidates.
She let herself enjoy the dream of him wanting her until she pulled into the driveway to his house, at which point, she tried to force herself back into “professional” mode. She was here as Pip’s nanny.
