Page 8 of The Rules of Dating

“No worries. She’s too into her snack and your book.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t see last night coming. The only consolation is that I’d only invested a few months in the relationship, which I consider a godsend.”

I nodded. “I’m glad to hear that, but what I really mean is how the heck did you orchestrate that?”

“He left his phone out, and I saw a Tinder notification pop up. That wasn’t supposed to be happening, so I had to investigate. I knew his access code, and once I realized what he was up to, I decided to set up dates with all of the women he’d been chatting with—at the same time. And you know the rest.”

“That was freaking epic.”

“Thanks.” She smiled proudly. “I thought so, too.”

“It takes a lot of strength to execute something like that when you’re hurting.”

“I think the hurt is what gave me the strength, oddly.”

I nodded. “I get that.”

Billie impressed me. Not only was she extremely talented, she was tough—with a hint of crazy. I became more curious about her by the second. I looked into her eyes for a moment, but that was cut short when she got up to fetch a napkin for Saylor.

She then returned to her spot next to me. “Do you live in the building, or are you just the new owner?”

“I live upstairs, too, yeah.”

“And you’re the only owner, or…”

“No.” I shook my head. “You know Holden, right?”

“The musician-slash-handyman? Yeah. He’s cool.”

“Yup. He’s part owner, too. Along with two of our other friends.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow. So the four of you own the building together?”

“Yeah. Well, the company we formed together owns the building. One of the guys, Owen, works in commercial real estate and brokered the deal. And then there’s Brayden.”

“You guys must really trust each other to go in together like that.”

“We do. They’re the only three people I can say that about.”

“So you must have gone upstairs last night and told your wife all about the nutty tattoo shop owner, huh?”

Oh. Everyone assumes I’m married because of Saylor. “There is no wife.”

“Oh.” Billie’s lips parted. “Divorced?”

“No. Saylor’s mother was never in the picture.” My voice dwindled to barely a whisper. “She didn’t want to be.”

The color drained from her face. “I see.”

I stood and motioned for her to walk to the other side of the room with me, away from Saylor.

“The pregnancy was a…surprise to say the least,” I murmured, looking out the window. “The last thing I ever expected. The woman and I didn’t exactly know each other. But Saylor’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Billie looked over at my daughter. “She’s beautiful.”

So are you, I wanted to say. She really was, uniquely beautiful. Though she wore heavy makeup, I somehow knew she’d be even more beautiful without it.

“But it must be challenging raising her on your own,” she said.