by J. S. Cooper
“I just thought that perhaps you would prefer to call your date by the right name?” Dante said gaining my attention again. He shrugged and as I turned back to look at him he looked down into my eyes with another curl of his lip. “Or perhaps the name doesn’t matter to you?” He could tell I’d been distracted, but I knew he thought it was from disinterest.
I just stared at him for a few seconds, not knowing how to respond. We’d already gotten off to a very bad start. Just great. “Nice to meet you and make your acquaintance, Dante,” I said finally, and I watched as he opened his arms to give me a hug. I was surprised at the gesture. He didn’t seem to be the sort to go for hugs, but I was determined to put my best foot forward and hopefully turn the date around. I mean he was a hottie, after all, and my early judgments of him were unfair. I mean I didn’t even know him yet. I stepped forward and put my arms around him and he squeezed me tightly for a few seconds before letting go. His body was hard and warm next to me and I felt a light tingle as my body pressed into his. I looked up into his eyes as I pulled away and the twinkle I saw made me blush.
“You too, Sadie. I’ve heard all about you from my Nana Addie.”
“Really?” I gave him a doubtful look. “I haven’t heard much about you from my Grandma Louise. Even though she claims to be best friends with your nana,” I continued, rambling on as I was starting to feel nervous.
“Okay, phew.” He started laughing then and winked at me. “I was lying. I don’t really know anything about you, Sadie Johnson. Nana said she wanted it to be a surprise.” He paused as he shook his head. “And to be honest, I was also taken aback by this friendship with your grandma. I’d never heard of her before and I’ve met almost all of Nana’s friends by now.” He grinned. “She parades her grandsons around like trophies to all her friends.” He laughed then. “But I digress.”
“It is all very strange,” I agreed and wondered if perhaps I’d judged him too quickly. Maybe he was a nice guy with a great sense of humor after all. And if he was close to his nana, that was a great sign. “I’d never heard of your nana or you before last week, but I figured I’d accept the date to make my grandma happy.”
“So what makes a good-looking girl like you accept a blind date?” He cocked his head to the side and looked me up and down slowly, his eyes taking in every inch of my body in a very obvious way. I was taken aback by his boldness. Who the hell did he think he was?
“Sorry, what?” I asked him, blinking rapidly as I tried to keep my tone even. I was not in the mood to deal with any chauvinistic pigs right now. And while I’d appreciated his build in his suit, I hadn’t fucked him with my eyes, had I?
“What makes a good-looking girl like you accept a blind date?” he repeated as if he didn’t realize how offensive he was being. “Like what are your faults?” He grinned at me. “What should I be wary of?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I said as I tried not to roll my eyes at him. It hadn’t even been five minutes and I was already back to my initial impression of him. He was a jerk.
“I’ll be honest,” he said as he stood there. “I don’t ever want to get married,” he said watching my face carefully. “That seems to turn a lot of women off.”
“Okay,” I said, wondering if Grandma Louise knew that. There was no way she knew that she’d set me up with a guy that never wanted to get married. “I’m sure that doesn’t rule out any sort of dating though.” And I knew that for a fact. He was, unbiasedly, gorgeous. One of the best looking men I’d ever seen in my life and based on his expensive-looking leather shoes and Rolex watch, he obviously wasn’t hurting for any money. Not that I cared.
“It doesn’t,” he agreed. “It just means that girls go a little crazy when they realize I’m not looking for a relationship.”
“You’re not looking for a relationship or just marriage?” I asked as I stared into his hazel eyes, that now looked more green. They were mesmerizing and I could feel myself falling into some sort of handsome man spell. Why was he telling me all of this so early on?
“Well, neither really. I don’t have time for a relationship and I don’t want marriage,” he said and I watched as he ran his hands through his short black hair casually as if that were the most normal thing he could tell his date during the first five minutes of their meeting. “Is that a problem?”
“Why would that be a problem?” I said and shook my head. I could feel my hair moving back and forth as I tilted my head up at him. “I couldn’t care less if you want a relationship or not.”
“Oh . . . you’re okay with just having casual fun?” His lips twitched slightly and I wanted to ask him what was so funny. I also wanted to call Grandma Louise and ask her if she knew she’d set me up with a playboy. What was she thinking?
Cara’s words also crossed my mind. Maybe he was the perfect guy to have a one-night stand with. He was, most certainly, the best looking man I’d ever gone on a date with. The absolute best looking. I could only imagine he’d be dynamite in bed if the way his hands had rubbed my back during our first hug was anything to go by.
“What are you thinking about, Sadie?” Dante’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I blushed as I looked up at him. His eyes were twinkling and gazing into mine as if he knew exactly what I’d just been thinking. “Have I said too much too soon? I hope I haven’t put you off. I am happy to meet with you, but I thought I should be honest right off the bat,” he said seriously.
“I, uh, I . . .” My voice trailed off as I suddenly noticed Dylan getting up from his seat and coming toward us. I watched as he ran up to us from the ice cream shop next door, his face a mess of chocolate syrup and whipped cream.
“Dylan, is everything okay?” I exclaimed and grabbed the little boy to pull him closer to me, aware that Dante’s eyes were on me like a hawk now, wondering what was going on.
“Who’s this?” Dante asked me, his eyes darting back and forth from me to Dylan, trying to figure out our connection. The smirk and sexy look were gone from his face and he suddenly looked at me with a very confused expression. I could feel my stomach dropping as his eyes narrowed and he stared at my face.
“Who are you?” Dylan looked up at Dante with wide innocent eyes and then he said the words that made my face burn as if I were standing directly under the sun. “Are you going to be my new daddy?”
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Acknowledgments
Special thanks go out to my proofreader, Marla Esposito, for always going above and beyond. Thank you for all your hard work.
I would also like to thank my beta readers Jo-Ann Forrest, Kim Green, Danielle Forgione, Sarah Ackerman, Michelle Manfre, Melissa Eiker, Nanette Cox, Kayla Berry, Mary Campbell, Stephanie Messier, Emily Kirkpatrick, Laci Danielle, Jackie Pinhorn, Kerri Long, Cilicia White, Trina McConnell, and Sarah Mathyssen for their feedback on the beginning of the book. Your encouragement and feedback was much appreciated.
And a huge thank you to all of my readers that have read and loved my books! There’s nothing better than hearing from someone who has enjoyed one of my books.
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