Chapter 10
DALTON
“What’s the address?” I look over at a clearly simmering Sage while she buckles her seat belt.
Her fingernails are a pretty light pink, and I wonder if her toes are the same color.
“I need to text Roman, so he knows where we’re going.”
“One second.” Her tone is curt as she pulls out her phone. She reads something on the screen, and she giggles. “Oh, that’s cute.”
“What’s cute?”
“Lucia’s screen name for the dating app is WifeyToBe.” She looks over at me with a wide smile. “She just sent it in the group chat that we girls have. I need to think of my screen name.”
“MyBossIsGoingToKillMe sounds like a good name to me,” I snap. “What’s the address?”
“What’s your problem?”
“Do you really think this is the right time to be joining a dating app? You’ve been in town for what? A few days or something? You haven’t even moved into your dumpy apartment yet; you have no furniture, but you’re downloading an app to meet some loser men?”
“TooSexyToBeSingle.” She grins, and her fingers fly across the screen as she types something.
“What?”
“I think my screen name should be TooSexyToBeSingle. It’s cute and true, and I think it lets men know the kind of woman that I am.”
“Are you frigging kidding me? Did you not just hear what I said?”
“I heard you, and I am ignoring you.” She looks at me briefly and back down at her phone. “I don’t recall asking for your opinion.”
“You might not have asked for it, but I’m offering it.”
“And I’m rejecting your offer, thank you very much.”
“What?” Is she joking? Nope, her face is serious.
“Dalton, I know you think you’re the man and so important, but you don’t run my life.
I barely know you. I survived the first twenty-four years of my life without you, and I will continue to make my own decisions and choices.
I appreciate your help this evening, but that doesn’t entitle you to dictate my life’s choices.
If I want to join a dating app, then I’m joining a dating app. ”
“I don’t care if you join a dating app. It’s the time I’m concerned with. Do you have your priorities in order?”
“Maybe worry about yourself.” Her lips are thin, and she holds the phone screen up to me.
“What’s that?”
“My new address. You asked for it, remember?”
She really is staying in the worst part of town, but I know better than to say anything to her about her choice. I start the car and pull out of the parking lot before turning on the radio.
“Any requests for music?”
“No, thanks. I can listen to whatever you want, seeing as you’re driving.”
She’s typing on her phone again, and I want to grab the phone out of her hand to see what she’s doing, but I know that would be unhinged.
“If you’re hell-bent on creating your profile, I wouldn’t go with a name like TooSexyToBeSingle. That’s just going to beckon every man on the app for sex.”
“Oh.” She looks up from her phone with thoughtful eyes. “You think so?”
“I know so. Men are waiting for any excuse to get sex or talk about sex. With a username with sexy in the title, that’s all you’re going to get.”
“I guess you’re right.” She nods and leans back in the seat in thought.
“Don’t overthink it and keep it simple.”
“GladYouCame?”
“GladYouCame? What, like in your pants?”
“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant. Like came to my profile.”
“That’s going to be a no.”
“SageLivesHere.”
“Boring.”
“SassyAndSingle.”
“You’re on the app; hopefully, that indicates you’re single. And no man is looking for sassy, trust me.”
“CoffeeAndCake.”
“That’s okay, not really that appealing though.”
“WetAndWild.” She giggles. “It’s direct and to the point.”
I side-eye her, and she winks at me, shaking her head as she points ahead to tell me to look back at the road. I want to tell her to go with a blatantly obnoxious username just so she can deal with all the idiot men in the world, but I want her to be safe more than I need to be right.
“I guess I’ll keep thinking on it.”
“If you must.”
“So, what do you do for a living, Dalton? Aside from bossing people around and owning Mama’s Kitchen.”
“Owning a whole restaurant isn’t enough?” I stop at the red light. “I also take care of Toby. Raising a four-year-old could be a full-time job.”
“I know—well, I mean, I don’t know, but I can imagine.
I just wondered if there was anything else you did.
” Her voice is monotone, which leads me to believe that this is actually a loaded question.
That makes sense. She likely knows I haven’t owned the restaurant for very long, so she’s likely wondering how I’ve made money.
“A bit of this and a bit of that. I worked with my dad at the family business for a long time, but I’m not there any longer.”
“Oh, okay.”
“What about you?” I go on the offensive so that she can’t keep asking me more questions. “Any career goals, or is the sole goal to become a missus?”
“That’s super rude.” The lightness in her voice tells me she’s not actually that offended.
There’s a huge grin on her face, and she shakes her head while pointing her finger at me to admonish me.
“Dalton, you’re going to have to try a lot harder than that to bring me down.
” She throws her head back and laughs. “Do you think you making a comment like that will make me feel bad?”
“I didn’t intend for it to make you feel bad.” That’s a bit of a lie, not that I want to admit that.
“Good, because you didn’t. Wanting to get married is only one of my goals, Dalton.
Of course, I have other dreams and goals.
I want to find my dad …” She shifts in the seat, and she makes a clucking noise.
“And I would also love to open a workout studio focused on getting cardio through dancing and weights. It’s one of my dreams.”
“Oh. That’s interesting.”
“You sound like you don’t find it very interesting, but that’s okay. You seem to be the sort of guy who spends most of his time in the gym deadlifting and not much else.”
“Are you calling me a beefcake?”
“You do have a lot of muscles.”
“Glad you noticed.” I flex my right bicep for her.
I’m not surprised when she groans loudly. In fact, I kinda like it. I would have been taken aback if she had gasped in awe and fawned all over me.
“Hard not to when you’re flexing in my face.” She yawns loudly. “Guess the dollars at the gym were well spent.”
“I would agree, seeing as you can’t keep your eyes off me.”
“In your dreams, Dalton.”
“How did you know?”
“Because I can read your mind.” She shrugs and then looks out of the window. “It’s so pretty here. One of the prettiest towns I’ve ever been in.” There’s a wistful tone to her voice as we pass by one of the main shopping areas in Santa Capinari.
There are twinkling fairy lights illuminating the cute storefronts, and a young family is walking their golden retriever down the street.
“I love dogs,” she says as she notices them as well. “Do you and Toby have one?”
“We do not, but I’m sure he wishes we did.” I smile to myself, thinking about how excited Toby would be if we got a dog, not that it would happen anytime soon. The house is already a hot mess, without any pets. “Maybe one day.”
“He’s a cute kid. Also, thanks for helping me tonight. I’m sure you would rather be with your son.” She sounds sincere, and I’m touched by her comment.
We just spent the entire evening going back and forth, and yet she is still thoughtful about my son. That means a lot to me.
“Thanks. He’s occupied tonight, so I have time.”
I make a left, and we make our way away from the beach and toward her apartment. The houses gradually grow smaller, the landscaping is less pristine, and the driveways shorter. Finally, we cross the line from Santa Capinari into the next city, passing the Thanks for Visiting sign, and Sage gasps.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her, wondering why she looks so agitated.
“That sign said Thanks for Visiting Santa Capinari.”
“Indeed, it did.”
“But we haven’t reached my apartment yet. I didn’t see that sign when I drove past the building before.”
“Did you follow GPS or Sal’s directions?”
“Sal said to use his directions because GPS doesn’t always get the directions right.”
“Sal gave you directions that won’t take you past that sign for a reason. I’m afraid you don’t live in Santa Capinari. Not to be rude, but there’s no way you thought that your place was in—”
“I did,” she bellows. “I moved here to live in Santa Capinari.”
“The residents of the city would no way allow a broken-down, drug-infested apartment complex in our city. Far too many Karens and Kens who live there for that. And frankly, I’m glad. That place is an eyesore.”
“So, you’re familiar with it?”
“Yes. I know Sal, and I know his buildings.” I don’t go into details.
I turn down another dark street until, finally, I’m pulling into her parking lot.
There’s an old, rusted red Ford pickup truck parked right next to where I stop, and I notice two skinny dudes in white tank tops sitting on the hood, drinking beers.
Country music plays from the radio, and they both eye me as I get out of the car.
The guy with the long, stringy blond hair calls out to me, “Nice Mercedes, bruh.” He chugs down his Coors and turns to his friend. “Pity if that beauty got scratched up, huh?”
“It’d be a pity,” his friend says.
Then his eyes widen, and he lets out a low whistle as Sage gets out of the car and heads over to me.
“Now, she’s a beauty,” Stringy-Hair Guy says to Whistler.
“Wouldn’t mind her with some mac and cheese.” Whistler looks Sage up and down. “What’s your name, sexy mamacita?”
“Sorry, what?” Sage answers them, and I look at her in disbelief.
“What are you doing?” I hiss at her.
I’m grateful to see Roman pull in and park next to me. I don’t want to have to take these guys on alone, even though I’m more than capable of handling them myself.
“I didn’t hear what he just said, so I was asking him—”
“Really?” I cut her off.
I wave to Roman and Brett as they get out of the car. I groan inwardly as I see Lucia, Izzy, and Rosie sashaying over to us, like they’re on the catwalk in Paris.