Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
NICK
Nick found himself feeling like a teenager again. A teen on his way to pick up his date.
For prom.
Standing in the living room, he was waiting for a final inspection under the discerning eye of his daughter.
She'd already approved of the bouquet of flowers he was holding and had made him shine his shoes... a second time.
He'd already done it upstairs in his bedroom, but Katie insisted that his shoes needed to be shining before he left the house.
At some point in her twenty-one-point checklist he had to pass before he left the house, he realized that they were both anxious to make a good impression.
"Katydid?"
Katie's head snapped up so she could meet his gaze.
It had been years since he'd called her by that nickname. Probably since she'd started school.
Definitely since her mom passed away.
"Dad?"
"Are you really okay with this?" He swallowed and felt like he heard the echo of it in his ears. "Me going out with a woman?"
"Just any woman? No." Her lips thinned to a pale line before she nodded. "Miss Baker? Absolutely."
Nick nodded and drew in a breath through his nose. "Okay."
She smiled at him, her whole face transformed. "I think she's awesome."
"I think so, too." He felt a weight fall away from his shoulders. "What about your friend Dana? Is her mom still coming to pick you up?"
He wasn't going to leave her home by herself.
She was a smart young lady with a good head on her shoulders. She didn't fool around or do silly things.
But... she was still a young lady, and he'd feel better if she had someone with her. An adult.
It was just safer.
So Katie's friend, Dana, was going to pick her up from the house. Dana's parents were taking the girls out for pizza and a movie while he was out on his date with Ruth.
It was comforting to know that Katie was going to have a good time.
"Dana texted me to say that they were just a few blocks away."
He smiled at the update. "So you better finish up with your inspection so I can see you off at the curb before I go to pick up Ruth at her door."
Katie gave him a wink. "Yes, sir, Daddy, sir!"
She looked down at her list. "I only have two more things."
Nick chuckled softly. "What's the first one?"
"Do you have your wallet, cash and credit cards?" He opened his mouth to reply but she continued, gesturing at him. "No making her pay for the whole thing."
He took one hand away from the bouquet and put it over his heart. "I promise that she won't pay for a thing."
Katie nodded solemnly. "Good. Good."
Then she checked off the item and tapped her pen against the side of her rainbow striped clipboard. "Last thing." She looked up at him, and he was reminded of how much Katie looked like her mother. "If you're planning to go in for a kiss-"
Her words staggered him. "What?"
"You better have good breath, Dad. So..." she reached into her pocket and handed him a small tin of breath mints. "Take this you and if you get a chance to... you know... lay one on her, make sure you pop a few of this first, okay?"
Nick wasn't sure how to react to his daughter giving him tips on dating. Or her use of the phrase 'lay one on her.'
He wanted to ask his daughter just how old she was.
She seemed to be hiding a Baby Boomer somewhere in that little body.
Katie's phone trilled in her pocket and she looked down, checking off the final box on her checklist. "Okay, that's Dana. I'm going to head out and stuff my face with pizza."
Nick set the bouquet of flowers down on the coffee table and reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet.
He walked beside his daughter to the door and just before she ran off to join her friend, she reached up to one of the hooks on the wall. She picked up her purse.
"Katie. Here." He handed her a twenty and a couple of tens. "Please give this money to Dana's mom for the pizza and movie, okay?"
She nodded and then crooked her finger at him.
He leaned in and whispered to her. "What now?"
Katie rose up on the toes of her sneakers like she did in her pointe shoes and gave him a kiss on the tip of his nose. "Have a good night with whatever you have planned. Just make sure you remember to be good to her. She's awesome, dad. And you deserve awesome!"
Before he could say anything, Katie bounded down the front walk to the curb.
Just before she reached the curb, the back door of the car swung open and Dana bolted from the car to wrap Katie up in a hug that might be strong enough to crack a few ribs, but seeing how Katie returned it made him smile. Things were different for kids than adults.
Katie and Dana did a little squealing before they climbed into the back of the car together.
Dana's mom, in the driver's seat waved at him through the open passenger window. "Thanks for lending us Katie, Nick! I'm sure they're going to run me ragged tonight!"
His shoulders shook with laughter. "I'll return the favor some time, Jill!"
The car pulled away from the curb, and he went back inside to lock up. He left the outside porch lights on and picked up the flowers he was going to give Ruth. Then he did a quick pat down to confirm he had his wallet, car keys, and yes, his breath mints.
And with that, he was out the door, sweating bullets.
When they arrived at the restaurant, he was still sneaking looks at Ruth. When he opened the door and held it for her. When they got to the table and he held out her chair.
By the time the waiter came over to take their order, he knew he was a goner.
He hadn't even looked at the menu.
Ruth gave the waiter her order and Nick was left there, staring up at the waiter.
The waiter who seemed sympathetic to his plight.
"Would you like me to go over the specials?"
He should have added the word 'again' to his question since Nick was fairly sure that he'd already explained the specials.
Instead, he looked over at Ruth and felt tongue tied again.
Ruth's smile wobbled a little, but not toward a frown.
She was on the verge of laughing at him.
He was too.
He was fairly sure he was back in his teenage years, but this time the woman across from him at the restaurant was as gorgeous as the Prom Queen. And he felt like he might keel over if she smiled at him again.
"Sir?"
"Uh," he saw her lift up a hand to cover her mouth.
He turned his head to the waiter who was barely holding back his own smile.
"I'll have what she's having."
The waiter nodded. "Excellent idea, sir."
Then he was gone and Ruth leaned in toward the table.
His mouth went dry as the neckline of her dress and the angle of her posture gave him a view of the tops of her breasts.
"This dress almost didn't make it out of the closet."
He sat up straighter in his seat, his gaze rising up to her face.
"I'm glad you chose it. It... You," he managed to wrangle his brain into a coherent thought, "look amazing tonight."
Ruth blushed and reached for her water glass. "Thanks, Nick."
She cut him a break because he'd probably said the same thing at least three times already. And it was likely to be more before the date was over.
"And I like your shirt." She looked down at his forearms again. Something she'd done a few times already.
As much as he liked the shirt Katie had picked out for him, he wasn't used to wearing shirts that buttoned at his wrists unless he was at a job site. He liked his movement room. It was the reason he'd unbuttoned his sleeves at his wrists and rolled up his sleeves almost to his elbows.
"You like the shirt? Or..."
She bit into her lip and her cheeks reddened even more.
"Guilty." She looked up at him through her lashes. "I'm weak for a good pair of forearms."
Nick leaned on the tabletop, knowing that his forearms were going to be displayed at their best.
Was he showing off?
Damn right!
He was shameless for her.
He watched as she dipped her gaze to his arms and then dragged it back up to his eyes.
"Weak," she murmured. "You do have the most amazing forearms."
Nick felt a little guilty for his thoughts, not because of the images in his head, but for the hunger he had for this woman.
"I'm trying to make a good impression on you, Ruth."
"Good impression?" She shook her head. "You made a good impression on me a long time ago, basically when we met."
He frowned at her words. "I remember being a bit of a growling bear to you back then."
"You were," she nodded, "but I think it was because of Katie."
He sat back a little, narrowing his eyes on her.
"You can't raise a girl that incredible and not be pretty awesome yourself."
He puffed out his chest a little. "Thank you, but a lot of it was her mom. Katie had the best start in life. I just have to keep her on that path. All in all, she's doing a lot of it herself."
Ruth nodded. Her expression was one of easy acceptance.
"She's bright and talented."
"Have you," he suddenly felt like he was tripping over his own words, "considered having any kids?"
She blanched a little at his question, and he wanted to kick himself under the table.
"Sorry," he tried to keep his tone 'light' so she wouldn't think he was upset. "I probably shouldn't have asked that."
"No, it's okay." She offered him a smile, but it wasn't as bright as it was a few moments before. "I didn't really when I was younger. I liked people, but I liked my privacy, too. I liked it a lot. Then I got older and I liked my co-workers... mostly."
They both chuckled over that.
"But my social side paled in comparison to my quiet side, and I thought children would drain me and the last thing I wanted to do was have children and then not be there emotionally for them."
He nodded. She had put thought into it.
"Then I met you and Katie and saw what it was like between the two of you. For the first time I didn't see children as something that would disturb my quiet time, but something that could make me better. Happier."
He watched her closely and that's why he could see the very moment he second guessed herself.