“She did not,” I can’t keep the amusement out of my voice as I picture her emasculating some poor eight-year-old boy.
“She’s a special kid.”
“That she is,” I agree. “I’m sorry, talking about my kid probably isn’t proper first date etiquette.”
“I don’t mind,” he assures me. “I love the way you light up when you talk about her.”
We finish dinner, and Watson helps me clean up, insisting on drying the dishes while I wash them. We stand at the sink, our shoulders bumping as I wash each dish and then pass it over to him. He whistles and sways a little while we work, shooting me a grin each time I steal a peek at him.
“Are you whistling ‘Mama Mia’?” I ask, quirking one eyebrow at him, our fingers brushing as I pass him a plate.
“If you have a problem with Abba, there’s no way this relationship can last,” he warns.
“No problem with Abba,” I assure him with a smirk. “I’ve just always preferred ‘Dancing Queen’ to ‘Mama Mia’.”
“I don’t discriminate when it comes to Abba,” he says solemnly, drying the final dish and setting it in the rack.
“Why don’t I pour us a couple of glasses of wine and we can go sit on the couch?” I suggest.
“Mmm,” Watson hums, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around me, pulling me close enough that our noses brush, and I can feel the bulge starting to stir in his pants. My whole body tingles, and it hits me all over again that I can’t believe I denied myself this feeling for so damn long. Instead of crying this time, I decide a more productive outlet for all the emotions dancing inside me is to kiss the hell out of the man I happen to be pretty crazy about.
The kiss turns heated immediately, Watson’s tongue pushing past my lips and tangling with mine, hot and wet and forceful. I run my hands over his chest, dying to know what it will feel like to touch him without all these clothes in the way.
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt to move this to the couch,” he says as he pulls back from the kiss.
“Wine?” I offer again.
“Sure.”
I pour two glasses while Watson heads into the living room to get comfortable. I also take a second to adjust my erection to a slightly more comfortable position. If he can light me up so much with a simple kiss, I’m dying to find out what it will feel like to take things further. If he’s planning to take things slow to give me time to adjust or whatever crazy ideas he might have, he’s about to get a big surprise, because I’m so fucking done taking things slowly. I think I’ve already taken things about as slow as anyone can possibly take them, now I’m ready to make up for all that lost time.
I make my way down the hallway with both wine glasses in hand, but before I can even make it to the living room, the doorbell rings.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. I can’t imagine who it could possibly be at my door at this time of night on a Friday. The guys should all be out at the bar, and obviously Val has Livi until Monday. I move both glasses to one hand, holding them carefully by the stems, and make a detour to answer the door.
I pull it open to find Val and Livi standing on the doorstep. My heart jumps into my throat, and I quickly step outside to join them on the porch, pulling the door firmly shut behind me.
“What’s going on, is everything okay?” I glance between the two of them. Livi seems perfectly fine, holding her backpack and grinning at me.
“I tried to call but you weren’t answering,” Val says. Her eyes land on the wine glasses I’m still holding, and they go wide with surprise. “Oh my god, do you have someone over?” Her voice is full of shock and interest.
“It’s nothing,” I lie, glancing back at the door, paranoid Watson is going to walk through it at any moment and inadvertently put me into an awkward situation.
“Okay, well, listen,” she says, putting a hand on Livi’s shoulder. “I hate to do this, but I got called in to cover the night shift, no one else is available, I guess. Jeff is out of town on business this week, and I can’t ask my normal babysitter to do an overnight on such short notice.” She gives me an apologetic smile. “If you can’t take her…”
“Of course, I can take her.” Never mind that my mind is racing, trying to figure out how I’m going to get Watson out without Livi seeing him and asking questions, or the crushing disappointment in my chest that our first date has to be cut short, obviously I’m not about to turn my daughter away.
“You’re a lifesaver,” Val says, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll swing by in the morning to pick her up.” She turns and dashes back to her car, waving at us before she gets inside and drives off.
“Can we watch Frozen before I have to go to bed?” she asks.
“Sure,” I agree. “But I need to tell you something first.”
My daughter blinks up at me innocently, waiting for me to untangle how to explain to her that her music teacher is at my house at eight-thirty on a weekend.
“Your music teacher is here.”
“Why? Am I in trouble? Is this because I called Tommy a penis?” she asks. “Because you and Mom both said that penis isn’t even a bad word.”
“What? No, you’re not in trouble.” I frown. “But we’re going to have to have another conversation about you calling someone a penis.”
“Why is Mr. Black here then?”
“We’re friends,” I explain. “He came over for dinner.”
“Okay,” she says with a shrug. “He can watch Frozen with us if he wants. He knows how to play Let it Go on the piano already.”
Some of the tightness in my chest eases. There’s no higher compliment than an eight-year-old inviting someone to join in watching their favorite movie.
I usher her inside and brace myself for Watson’s possible reaction to the turn the night seems to have taken.
“There you are, I thought you might’ve had second thoughts and bailed. I was trying to decide if being ditched in the middle of a date is more embarrassing when it’s at someone’s house or…” He trails off, his eyes widening when he spots Livi. “Olivia, hi.”
“Hi, Mr. Black. My dad says we can all watch Frozen together.”
“I love Frozen,” Watson says, smiling at Livi and then giving me a confused look.
“Why don’t you go put your bag in your room and get into your pajamas, and I’ll start the movie,” I tell her.
As soon as she’s out of the room, I set the wine glasses on the coffee table and sit down next to Watson, giving him a sheepish smile.
“I’m so sorry. Val got called into work the overnight shift,” I explain, biting my bottom lip. “I couldn’t tell her no.”
“Of course not,” he agrees. “I should probably go.” The disappointment is clear on his face, and it makes me feel a tiny bit better that I’m not the only one bummed that this date didn’t end as planned.
“Unless you want to stay and watch Frozen,” I offer hopefully, tacking on a chuckle to pass it off as a joke in case he says no.
“You don’t mind? I don’t want to make things awkward with your daughter.”