“You’re looking...”
“I’m looking what?” He knew exactly how he was looking, but he wanted to see if she’d say it.
“And I’m...”
He waited. She was responding. He knew she was. Even her nipples had tightened beneath the thin fabric of her tank top.
She took another shaky breath and straightened her shoulders, meeting his gaze almost defiantly. “I’m not giving up on my mission.”
It felt like a slap—her shift in tone—but he only had himself to blame. Despite what Kelly had said earlier, he’d known it was too soon. She wasn’t ready to acknowledge anything changing between them. She needed more time, and if he was a decent person at all, he’d give it to her.
So instead of howling in outrage, he took a step back and gave his head a brief, wry shake. “I think it’s a losing quest, but I’ll play along if you want me to.”
“I do.” She gave him a smile that warmed his heart. “I want you to be happy, and I’m not going to give up until you are.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Believe it or not, I want to be happy too.”
“Good. Then you’ll go out with the next girl I fix you up with.”
“I will. But I make no promises about better results.”
“We’ll see.”
“Yes. We’ll see.” He wanted to stay longer, but he knew he better not. His body was already far too interested in the way Serena looked in her pajamas, and his heart was far too invested in that intimate, affectionate look on her face. “Okay. I’ll let you get back to bed now.”
“Okay. Thanks for stopping by. You left things okay with Kelly?”
“Of course I did.”
“Good. Talk to you tomorrow.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, as if she was suddenly conscious of the way her nipples were behaving right now.
Keith had been conscious of them the entire time.
“Good night, Serena.”
“Good night.”
He made himself turn around. Walk out the door. Close it behind him.
He was leaving unsatisfied, but he wasn’t unhappy or depressed or discouraged. At all.
In fact, he was more hopeful than he could ever remember being.
She was responding to him the way he wanted. She just needed more time.
And that was fine. He could give her that. He’d go out with more women if she needed him to, but he wasn’t giving up hope in the one woman that he wanted.
She might have a mission for him, but now he had a mission of his own.
And his was the mission that was going to make both of them happy in the end.
four
THREE WEEKS LATER, Serena was having a delightful evening with Eva and Keith.
He’d gone out with three other women she’d fixed him up with over the past few weeks—all as unsuccessful as his date with Kelly—but he’d said he needed a break from blind dates this weekend, so she’d put her mission on hiatus. He’d gotten tickets for a cute little spring musical put on by the community theater group. Intended for children, it featured fun, peppy songs. Eva had been thrilled by the chance to dress up and go out for the evening, and Serena was kind of excited too.
The audience was responsive and interactive, filled with other families who were enjoying the experience. Serena wore a pretty pale green dress, and Eva wore sky blue. Keith appeared to be having a good time too. He was smiling with his eyes even as he made funny, wry faces for Eva’s benefit and discoursed wisely about the stage setup and numbers in attendance, prompted by Eva’s many questions.
Serena laughed and clapped and slanted pleased glances at Eva’s happy face for the two hours of the performance, and she was on an emotional high as they filed out with the rest of the audience.
It was just after eight, which was nearing Eva’s bedtime, but she didn’t want the evening to end yet. When Keith suggested they stop at their favorite ice cream shop on the way home for a little dessert, it was perfect.
Eva was so ecstatic at the unexpected treat that she was wriggling with it in the back seat of the car. She might have had a little meltdown, as she sometimes did when she got too excited, but Keith distracted her by starting a serious debate about which of the fairies in Eva’s latest book series was the most powerful.
Their discussion was still going when they reached the ice cream shop, and Serena was laughing to herself about the utter sobriety with which both of them were handling the topic. Keith reached out to hold Eva’s hand as they crossed the street, and he put his other hand on Serena’s back. It wasn’t an inappropriate or unusual touch. Just the palm of his hand against the small of her back in an unconscious protective gesture.
But Serena was acutely conscious of it. The touch felt unexpectedly intimate.
And she didn’t want him to drop his hand.
It felt like they were a couple. A family. And it had been a long time since Serena had felt that way.
She told herself not to be silly. After all, Keith withdrew his hand as soon as they got inside. The place was fairly crowded at this time on a Saturday night, so they had to wait in line. No one seemed to mind. Eva switched to an earnest conversation on which flavor of ice cream and toppings they all were getting.
Since Eva couldn’t decide between chocolate brownie and birthday cake, Serena volunteered to get birthday cake so Eva could have some of both. Serena wasn’t actually a big fan of birthday cake flavor, but she wanted Eva to be perfectly happy tonight and not regret her choice. Then Keith ordered caramel coffee ice cream, which was what Serena would have chosen for herself.
He’d done it on purpose—so she could have some of his—and he’d done it so casually that she might have thought it was a coincidence if she didn’t know him so well.
She watched him discreetly as they found a little table to squeeze around in the far corner. He’d seemed happy all evening—almost as happy as Eva. There didn’t appear to be any clear reason for his good mood—since surely a kid’s musical and an ice cream outing weren’t on the top of his list of favorite things to do. But she could see a warmth brimming up inside him, threatening to spill over in his little smile and his brown eyes.
His chair was very close to hers. Partly because they didn’t have much room, but partly because he didn’t push his chair as close to the wall as it could go. He didn’t seem to notice or mind having their arms occasionally brushing against each other. He was watching Eva gobble down her chocolate brownie ice cream with impressive speed.
When she had less than a quarter of the ice cream left in her cup, she stuck it out toward Serena, who took it and offered Eva her own cup (filled with more than half the birthday cake ice cream). Without commenting, Keith reached for the brownie flavored and gave Serena his cup as a replacement.
Serena gave him an appreciative smile as she ate the half the caramel coffee ice cream Keith had saved for her.
He reached out and put an arm around her shoulders in a gentle half hug.
“What’s that for?” she murmured, turning her head to look up at him.
She hadn’t realized his face was so close to hers, but it was there. Right there. Her heartbeat quickened and her pulse throbbed.
“What’s what for?”