6. Derek
6
DEREK
“ H ollis is always a jerk-face,” Naomi explained to Claire. “But it's getting old.”
“Most jerk-faces don’t realize that,” she said.
“Do you know a lot of jerk-faces too?” Naomi asked.
Claire leaned lower, beckoning Naomi to get closer for her to tell her a secret.
In a loud stage whisper, cupping her hand as though to confide in her, Claire said, “ Everyone knows a jerk-face. The world can be full of them.”
Naomi sighed dramatically. “That’s what my Uncle Nicky says.”
“What do I say?” my brother-in-law said as he joined us, clearly catching his name.
“That the world has too many jerk-faces,” Naomi replied.
“Yeah. Unfortunately, it does.” He smiled kindly at Claire, though. She returned the expression, but a stupid little sense of intrigue hit me that her smile didn’t seem as relaxed or natural as when she first made eye contact with me.
She’d captured my attention when she’d only had her back to me, but now, facing her, I struggled with the need to memorize her face and commit her beauty to memory. Even though her outfit screamed high-maintenance, she looked bare of makeup and jewelry.
And why am I even noticing?
I cleared my throat, perturbed and uneasy about how much more I wanted to see and learn about her.
“New to town?” Nicky asked as he held his hand out. “I’m Nick Franis.”
“Nice to meet you,” Claire replied. “I actually grew up in Macomb.”
“Ah,” he said, glancing at me.
“But I wanted to check out Preston today.” She ramped up the wattage of her smile, glancing at Nicky, then me, and lastly, at Naomi. “If I can. With my horrible eyesight, that is.”
“I bet you can buy reading glasses at the pharmacy down the road.”
She exaggerated being blind, groping the air in front of her as she walked, like she couldn’t see where she was going. “I don’t know… Can I?”
Naomi giggled, and even I had to fight off this smile creeping over my face. I liked that she could be self-deprecating and silly.
“We can show you the way,” she offered.
We can?
I glanced down at my daughter, curious that she didn’t seem to mind Claire. Most times, Naomi would have a cold shoulder mentality when women spoke to me, particularly when women hit on me.
That wasn’t the case here. Claire wasn’t paying too much attention to me, despite the zap of intrigue that still coursed through me from making eye contact with her. She seemed to focus on Naomi. I was impressed that she gave my child attention, not casting her aside.
Then again, why wouldn’t she give her attention? Naomi was the one who’d gone to her to strike up a conversation.
Huh. Now that’s interesting. I’d finally met a woman who wasn’t excited to chat with me.
“Excuse me,” Stacy said as she sidled up close. She shot Claire a quick smile, just being polite. Tugging on my sleeve to prompt me to walk with her, she cleared her throat. “So, Mackenzie just got here. I told her we’d?—”
No. I gently nudged past her, smiling at Claire. “Would you like us to show you the way?”
Claire blinked, taking a slight step back. It almost seemed like she hadn’t expected me to speak to her. Or that she hadn’t wanted me to. “Um.” She shook her head, smiling but confused. “What?”
“The drugstore. We can walk you down there,” I offered.
Claire frowned, staring at me smiling. “Oh. Um. Well…”
“We can get hot cocoa on the way,” Naomi said, smiling up at me.
“Who…?” Stacy furrowed her brow, glancing again at Claire. “Hi. Um, we’re actually heading that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction down Main, leading away from where the pharmacy was.
“Hot cocoa.” I clapped my hands together. “Yes. Let’s.”
What the hell am I doing?
Meeting up with Mackenzie was the last thing I wanted to do. Dealing with Stacy’s matchmaking goals didn’t appeal. Still, it shocked me when I realized I was taking the initiative with Claire, that this could be seen as making a move.
I didn’t like that I was basically using her as a prop, as an easy out away from my sister. Naomi had suggested it, though, not me. It was her offer to show this relative newcomer around downtown Preston. I was only going along with it.
“Do you like hot cocoa?” Naomi asked Claire.
She grinned. “It’s a crime not to,” she replied.
Shoot. I bet Naomi wouldn’t detect it, but Claire sounded uneasy. Hesitant, but she tried not to show it.
Was I screwing this all up somehow? I wasn’t pushy and in her face, like Mackenzie and other women were to me when they asked me out. My daughter inviting her to a walk was hardly my asking Claire out.
I hadn’t made a move on anyone since Jenna, and it seemed I was rusty if she was this iffy about it.
Wait. Shit. I’m just assuming too much here. She was too gorgeous to be alone.
“Sorry,” I said. “Are you here with others?”
“No, no. Just me.”
“Or did you lose them?” Naomi teased.
Claire pretended to do a little ba-dum-tiss with imaginary drumsticks. “Funny. No. I didn’t come with anyone here to lose them.”
“I’m sorry. What did you say your name was?” Stacy asked, frowning.
“Babe, I wanted to show you these wreaths that would look great on the front door,” Nicky said, steering Stacy away.
“Daddy promised me hot cocoa,” Naomi said as she walked back toward the sidewalk. “First, reading glasses, then hot cocoa.”
“I don’t remember promising hot cocoa,” I said as I followed the woman with my daughter.
“You said we should get hot cocoa,” Naomi emphasized. “Same thing. And since Claire should have assistance on the way to the pharmacy, we could accomplish both missions at the same time.”
“My, how would I have ever gotten by without your help?” Claire said, pretending to walk astray.
Naomi giggled. “Over here,” she called, patting her thigh.
“She’s not a dog,” I quipped.
Claire snorted a laugh.
“Do you have a dog?” Naomi asked Claire.
The woman smiled easily, walking with us but still previewing the contents of the stands we passed by. “No. I don’t. Do you?”
I groaned, and she flashed a quick, curious smile my way.
“I want a dog,” Naomi announced confidently as she took my hand to hold it again.
“I thought you bumped it up to wanting two dogs,” I replied.
“Three,” she shot back.
“Oh, heck. Make it a pack,” Claire joked.
“A pack?” Naomi raised her brows. “Like wolves?”
“Sure. Dogs are like wolves, aren’t they?”
Naomi nodded. “All canines, of the species Canis familiaris , are descendants of the gray wolf, Canis lupus .”
Claire whistled, stepping closer to me to avoid another group of carolers squeezing through. Her shoulder brushed against mine, and I wondered if she smelled like apples because of the dessert stall she’d visited or if she was always that sweet.
“You do read a lot, huh?”
Naomi nodded. “Do you?”
“What?” Claire asked.
“Read.”
“Are you asking me if I know how to read?”
Naomi frowned. “It’d be difficult for you?—”
“Naomi!” I scolded lightly.
“—with the presbyopia and all, but…”
Claire laughed, not offended. “Yes, I know how to read. And yes, I like to read. Just not factual stuff.”
“That’s called non-fiction.”
“And I’m not a fan.” Claire smiled, not ashamed or embarrassed about it.
“What do you read?”
“According to you, nothing,” Claire teased.
“As soon as we reach the pharmacy, that can be easily remedied.”
Claire squinted. “I’ll admit that I struggle with seeing tiny fonts up close, but if I’m not mistaken, the pharmacy is closed up there.”
I turned, following where she pointed. Sure enough, the big white and red marquee stated that they’d closed an hour ago for the holiday market day.
“That’s a bummer.” Naomi glanced at me and tugged on my hand. “But that means we can go to the hot cocoa stand now.”
I caught myself smiling as I glanced at Claire. Feeling the full hit of her direct attention on me startled me. While she seemed interested, she wasn’t.
“What do you say, Claire?”
Now , I was making a move. I was asking, without any room for guesswork.
I wasn’t sold on this concept of dating, but getting hot cocoa with her wouldn’t be a date. It wasn’t a romantic adventure or even a getting-to-know-you event.
But I wished it were. After these few minutes of seeing how well Naomi and Claire got along, with sarcasm and wit, I wanted to see how long it could last.
Naomi bored quickly of adults who so obviously humored her. She got annoyed with women always coming up to talk to me and exclude her. While she was inquisitive and sometimes nosy, as kids could be, Claire was being a good sport so far…
“Would you like to get a hot cocoa with us?” I asked.
As I watched her smile falter as she lowered her gaze, I held my breath and recognized how anxious I was for her reply.
Say yes.
“Please,” Naomi said, dragging that one word out to seven times the syllables that it normally had.
Lifting her face to peer at me, Claire seemed to search for a clue. For an answer.
She opened and closed her mouth, stalling with a reply.
And I waited, with bated breath, wanting a woman’s company for the first time in years.
Not just any woman’s company.
Hers.