Chapter 14 #2
“No. I mean, you are new, I guess, on the app and in town, and you’re pretty, though I would have said NewAndBeautiful.”
“Very funny.”
“What? I’m telling the truth.” My tone is deep, and my voice sounds gravelly.
Maybe because, as I stare at her with her beautiful hazel eyes widening and her pink lips parting, I want to tell her she’s so much more than just new and pretty, but I know how that would sound, and I’m not trying to make her think that I’m some sort of psychopath because I really am not.
There’s an awkward silence between us.
“So, NewAndPretty it is,” I say. “It’s not a bad name, and at least you’re not going to get those who are just looking for sex. I mean, you might still get them depending on the photos you use, but not because of your username.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I think those sorts of guys are everywhere anyway, aren’t they?” She shrugs. “There’s nothing I can do about that.”
“True. But maybe when you get ready to go on dates, send me their information so I can vet them for you and …”
“No way.” She shakes her head adamantly. “Are you out of your mind?”
“I think that’s a reasonable offer.”
“I’m not sending you potential dates’ information so you can check them out for me. That’s weird.”
“I’m just saying that when you’re a beautiful lady, and you’re on a dating app, it’s quite risky, and you may or may not end up on dates with psychopaths.”
“Are you going to do that for Lucia? Are you going to do that for Izzy? Are you going to do that for Rosie, or is it just me? Am I so very beautiful that you feel like I’m the only person who needs this vetting?”
I press my lips together because she’s caught me. Obviously, I wouldn’t even think about asking Lucia to check out her dating profile. She’d laugh in my face, and I know that. Sage knows that as well.
“Fine. I’m just saying, if you need any help or guidance vetting any of these men, I’m here. And of course, the offer extends to my sister, Izzy, and Rosie. I was just going to say you could tell them when you meet up with them later.”
“Uh-huh,” she says. “Sure.” She laughs.
I lean forward so that I can whisper in her ear, “I love the way your lips curl up when you laugh. And I love the way you’ve done your eye makeup today.”
Her breathing is suddenly shallow, and I watch as she swallows.
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“You wore some eye makeup. I notice these things. You didn’t have that color eyeshadow on when we were in the restaurant earlier. Did you pretty yourself up for me?”
She groans loudly and rolls her eyes. “For you or for when I’m going to the bar later with the girls? You can decide which one of those answers sounds the most realistic to you.”
“I know which one I hope it is,” I say. “Honestly, I hope you did it for me. I hope you find it just as hard to resist me as I find it to resist you.”
“Dalton, we can go back and forth with these questions, and I can tell you what you want to hear, or I can tell you the truth. And the truth is …”
I hold my hand up.
She frowns. “What?”
“Maybe, just maybe, I don’t want you to have to lie to yourself or to me.”
“Excuse me?”
“Let me ask you one question.”
“What’s the question?”
“I’m only going to ask it if you promise to be honest.”
“I’m always honest.”
“Okay, so here’s my question then.”
“Yes?”
“If I were to lean forward and give you a kiss right now, what would your reaction be?”
I wait for her to deny how she feels. I wait for her to tell me she’d slap me across the face, that she’d leave, that she’d want nothing to do with me.
“Oh, that’s a very easy answer,” she says, grinning at me.
“Oh, yeah? And what’s the answer?” My heart pounds, and I wait for her to lie. I wait for her to tell me that never in a million years would she ever want to kiss me.
“Well, if we were in that exact scenario, this is what I’d do.”
My heart stops as she leans up on her tiptoes, grabs my shoulders, and presses her lips against mine. There’s a challenge in her face as she steps back and licks her lips.
“So, there you have it. There’s your kiss, Mr. Leone.”
“I guess we still have to see what you’d do if I attempted to kiss you,” I tease her, shocked I can speak.
That was the last thing I’d expected her to do, and yet it makes me like her even more.
Because one thing I know about Sage is that, even though she’s fighting whatever there is between us, she still acknowledges that it exists.
She wants me just as badly as I want her, and yet neither one of us really wants to move forward; maybe because neither one of us is in a position to, but a part of me wants to change that.
Part of me wants to throw caution to the wind and see where everything goes.
“Daddy!” Toby comes running up. “Hold my teddy bear, please. Cheeseburger doesn’t like the swings,” he says as he hands it to me.
I take it from him and nod. “You having fun, Toby?”
“Yeah, it’s so much fun.” He grins, leans over, and grabs Sage’s hand. “I’m glad you came to play so you can talk to Daddy while I’m having fun with my friends.” He beams like he just got a milkshake. “You smell nice.”
“Thank you,” she says and ruffles the top of his head. “You’re a cute kid, Toby.”
“Thank you.” He claps his hands, then runs off.
She looks over at me and offers me a small smile. “You’re a good dad,” she says, as if the realization suddenly hit her. “You’re a tease and a grump and quite annoying at times, but you’re a good dad.”
“Thank you. I don’t know if I should be offended that there was ever a possibility that I wasn’t, but thank you.”
“I guess now that I’m looking for my real dad, I just wonder if he’s a good dad or if he would’ve been a good dad. I just appreciate these things. I appreciate you. I’ve told you that before.”
“You have,” I say. “And just how much do you appreciate me?”
“What does that mean, Dalton?”
“You know …” I lick my lips. “Maybe another kiss?”
“I’m not giving you another kiss.”
“I could give you one.”
“Now, now, would that be appropriate in front of all of these kids?”
“I didn’t say it would be a French kiss or anything.”
“Well, you may kiss my cheek.” She turns her face to the side; I lean forward and kiss her cheek. “There you go.”
“May I kiss the other?”
She turns her cheek the other way, and I kiss that.
I grab her hand and run my fingers around her palm and whisper in her ear, “The other places I’d like to kiss are definitely not suitable for where we are right now. But maybe one day, if I’m lucky, huh?” I step back.
She blushes, and there’s a glimpse of uncertainty in her eyes. But I can see the lust there. I can feel it. I can sense it. It’s the same lust that exists in me.
“Yeah, maybe,” she says with a soft smile. “And maybe pigs will fly, and maybe fish will sing, and maybe geese will one day be rulers of the universe.”
There’s always a maybe in every situation, right?
“I’ll hold on to the maybe hope … no matter how low the chances seem to be.”
I don’t tell her that I think the chances are higher than she’s letting on. I’m still flying high from the kiss. It was quite chaste, but it was the most meaningful kiss I’ve had in years.