by Nancy Adams
“What time does the park close?” I asked.
“At sundown,” he said with a hint of reluctance.
“Wow, we’ve been here for hours.”
“It’s funny how time flies when you’re in good company,” he said softly.
His words made me gulp as I responded. “Yes, I would have to agree…really good company makes time fly.”
“Can I walk you to your car?”
“Sure,” I said softly as I stood up. He whistled to Olivia, who came running, and together they escorted me to my car.
He surprised me by taking my hand in his. He held it as we walked to the car. When we came to a stop in front of it, he took both of my hands and leaned towards me. My heart began to beat quickly, and I held my breath as he came in closer. And just as I tipped my face up to meet his lips, he lowered his cheek against mine and pressed a kiss near my ear.
“Thanks for a wonderful afternoon, Libby. I would love to see you again. Olivia feels the same way.”
Olivia was ignoring us and gnawing at the end of her tail, and I raised my eyes to Hugo, feeling skeptical. “I don’t know. She seems more concerned about…other things.”
Hugo smiled. “She’s just being coy. I prefer to be more direct. I would like to see you again, as I said before. How’s next weekend?”
I hesitated. “I have a soccer game playoff next weekend.”
“Is it too presumptuous of me to ask to come along?”
I shrugged. “If your idea of a good time is hanging out with me while I yell at bunch of kids, then feel free to stop by.”
He bent down to kiss my cheek and whispered in my ear, “I’m already looking forward to seeing you again.”
He turned away without another word, and Olivia trotted behind him. I slid behind the wheel and looked up at the rearview mirror. I had a smile on my face similar to one a teenage girl would wear after being kissed on a first date. Hugo sure was something. I was looking forward to my next date with the mysterious Frenchman.
Chapter Five
I happily made my way around the large department store, forcing myself to not buy another pair of shoes. It was tempting though. I didn’t like pointy-toed heels, but I loved strappy sandals. I was resisting temptation and waiting for my grandmother to finish with her makeup session in the cosmetics department—a department that I tended to avoid by any means necessary.
Getting her makeup done by a professional was a die-hard habit of hers. We’d been regular visitors of the cosmetics department every Wednesday since I could remember. She would show up at random times and get a free makeup session while she and the makeup artist of the moment gossiped about which soap opera heartthrob was the most handsome. I hated makeup. Aside from lipstick and eyeliner, I rarely wore it. And I didn’t watch soaps. But Grandma loved to look good and it made her happy, so I went with her and just browsed while she was otherwise occupied.
I wandered around the store when a cute little skirt caught my eye. I made a beeline towards it and pulled it off the rack. Part of me knew that a woman my age, almost 30, probably shouldn’t find clothes, especially a mini-skirt, in the junior’s section, but the junior section had such cute styles! I couldn’t resist sometimes.
I held up the skirt, checking out how stretchy it was, and then subtly held it up over my backside, looking in the mirror.
“You see, not fluffy at all. Kitty has no idea what she’s talking about,” I heard someone joke behind me.
I turned around and found Ash standing there. He scratched at his full beard and I found myself wondering what he would look like without it. Just as handsome, I thought to myself and then mentally shook my head. What was I thinking? He was my peer, not my date. I wasn’t allowed to find Ash attractive. I was already dating Hugo. Well, kind of sort of. We still hadn’t had our official second date, but if our first date had been any indication, the second date would be just as good.
I couldn’t help but smile up at him as I met his steady, brown-eyed gaze. Hugo had an olive complexion with dark eyes as well. Both men had beautiful eyes, I thought to myself before remembering that it wasn’t a competition.
“So how was your date?” he asked casually.
“Good. How was the cupcake after party?”
“Pretty good. I had to work out a good two extra hours to make up for my indulgence.” He rubbed his flat stomach.
“You sound like a woman, worrying about fitting into her dress or something.”
“That’s pretty sexist. Can’t a man want to keep his hard-earned abs?”
“Oh please…” I rolled my eyes in an exaggerated gesture.
“What? I do have nice abs.”
“I believe you.”
“Nope. I don’t feel like you do. I’ll prove it.”
And then he was lifting up his shirt, and I tried not to look impressed. Ash did have rock-hard abs. My fingers itched to touch him when I heard Grandma say from my left side, “I leave you alone for a few minutes and you get men to strip for you? Is this some sort of new generation thing? Is this the man you’re dating?”
I groaned. “Grandma, meet Ash. Ash, this is my grandmother. I told you about him, Grandma, he’s the assistant coach for the soccer team.”
“So you are or are not dating him?” she said, still stuck on that subject. “This isn’t that Hugo fella that you went on and on about who has a dog with a girl’s name? I think that’s just odd, by the way.”
Ash folded his massive arms over his chest.
“I told you, his name is Ash, not Hugo,” I hissed at my grandmother.
“Okay, okay. I heard you. What kind of name is Ash? And so why was he flashing you?”
I turned to Ash and folded my arms, mirroring his body language without thinking. He seemed to be finding Grandma funny, but I didn’t see much humor in the situation, so I said, “Yeah, go ahead Ash the Flasher, explain to my granny what you were doing.”
He blushed then and mouthed to me, “Ash the Flasher, seriously?”
I held back a laugh and he said with a straight face. “I had something in my eye and was trying to use my shirt to get it out.”
Granny promptly said, “Bullcrap. You were trying to be sexy with my granddaughter.”
I choked, trying to hold back the laughter as Ash’s mouth fell open and his ears turned beet red.
“Ma’am…I assure you, I was not trying to be fresh with your granddaughter,” he stammered.
She shook her finger at him. “If you want to date her, then flashing your stomach isn’t going to do it, young man. You better get in line and ask her out like every other decent man.”
“I would like to, ma’am, but apparently, I’m not good enough.”
“You never asked me!” I said, defending myself.
“Would you have gone out with me if I had?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“If you two are done bickering, I think I’ll head to the chocolate store.” She walked away without another word.
“See you, Ash,” I called as I turned away from him, scrambling to catch up with my grandma. The woman never walked anywhere. She power-walked faster than most people could run.
She swatted at me when I caught up. “Don’t be rude. Invite your friend along.”
“He’s not my friend,” I hissed.
“I heard that,” Ash said, easily catching up with us.
“Oh, stop sounding hurt. You know what I meant,” I barked at him.
“She’s a fiery one, isn’t she?” my grandmother said with a chuckle. “Come on, young man. Escort on old woman to the candy store.”
“Old? You don’t look a day over 50.” He tucked his elbow around hers.
I walked behind them as they giggled and talked. I was annoyed that they were most likely talking about me.
I cleared my throat a couple of times and they ignored me. I found myself pouting like a child and was ready to stomp away angrily when we finally arrived at the chocolate store.
Grandma was there
for gummy worms, not for chocolate. She couldn’t stand the stuff.
“Let’s sit outside and have some treats, unless you two have more important things to do than keep an old lady company.”
“I have better things to do,” I grumbled knowing that my grandma was playing the elderly card.
“Wow, Libby. Didn’t you ever hear that you should respect your elders?” he said teasingly to me. I wanted to thump him.
Grandma smiled at him gratefully, and we followed her out to the patio, where all of us took a seat. She started eating her gummy worms.
“What’s going on? Too sexy to eat a little chocolate? Scared it will ruin your figure?” she asked of Ash, who blushed. Ha! Grandma had no filter sometimes, and I enjoyed her pizzazz and sharp wit, at least when her witticisms weren’t directed towards me.
“So, what was your name again? Peter? Marcus?”
I laughed out loud. “Ash, Granny. Wow.”
“I’m an old lady,” she said, winking at me. The woman was sharp as a tack and just presented herself as the fragile senior citizen to take advantage of individuals’ stereotypical view of the elderly as dimwitted and forgetful.
“So tell me about yourself, Ash. Are you single?”
“Yep,” he said, sitting back comfortably in his chair.
“Recently divorced,” I added.
“What’s your definition of recent?” Ash asked.
“Oh, within the past week,” Grandma interjected matter-of-factly.
“Oh. Well then, my divorce was a year ago.”
She reached over and patted his hand. “You poor thing. Do you have any kids?”
He shook his head. “Nope”
“Do you want kids?”
“Granny! Come on!” I protested.
Ash held back a laugh. “Feeling a little uncomfortable, Libby?”
“Hush it, Ash. Unless you like playing 20 questions with my grandma.”
He gave me a Cheshire Cat smile and then Granny’s phone rang. She looked down and pulled it out her purse. “It’s Pearl,” she told us. “I’ll be right back. I have to take this. You two help yourselves to some gummy worms. The red ones are the best.”
As soon as she was gone, Ash breathed out in relief. “She is a firecracker.”
I nodded. “She’s always been that way. Ever since I’ve known her.”
“I’m guessing she raised you?”
I nodded again. “How’d you guess?”
“Your mannerisms and sense of humor. You guys are so much alike. It’s like talking to an older, more outrageous version of you.”
I nodded. “So that’s a preview of what I’ll be like in the future? What do you think?”
“Oh God, help me,” Ash chuckled as he leaned his forearms on the table and folded his large hands together.
“You’re not funny,” I said, trying not to smile but losing the battle.
“Oh really,” he said in a low voice. “Then why are you smiling? It’s because you think I’m funny.”
“You’re right. I do think you’re funny. Funny looking.”
He held his chest as if in shock and smiled so wide, I swear I saw dimples.
“Oh my gosh, you have dimples. They’re adorable. I can’t believe I’ve never noticed.”
“Adorable? I’m not adorable. I’m an impressive specimen of masculine virility, not a teddy bear.”
I raised an eyebrow, leaned forward flirtatiously and said, “Is that so?”
He smiled seductively and leaned forward as well.
I placed a hand under my chin and let my eyes wander across his face and chest. I held his eyes as I trailed a finger up his massive forearm and up his bicep. I smiled wickedly as I said in my sexiest voice, “Sooo…since you’re such a manly man, can you answer a question for me?”
He nodded, and I slowly brought my hand down his arm. He seemed now to be pretty much salivating, which made what I had to say that much more fun. “Can you tell me why an impressive specimen of masculine virility has pictures of himself on Facebook dancing around in a tutu with bows in his hair?”
He blinked once and his smile slowly melted. He narrowed his eyes at me. “Low blow, Libby, but well played. Definitely well played.”
I was referring to pictures from Kitty’s birthday party. Apparently, Kitty and her guests had demanded that both Ash and her father wear tutus and hair bows in order to participate. It had amused plenty of the soccer moms, and I had to admit, I had been pretty amused too.
He sat back and said with a sly look on his face. “You know what this proves though, right?”
I tilted my head to the side as if I were thinking. “Hmmm…that you like to dress in drag?”
“Ha. Funny. No, it proves that you’ve been interested in me for a while. You know, since you’re going out of your way to stalk me on Facebook. I’m pretty sure that’s my most recent profile pic. I knew you had a thing for me since the beginning.”
“You think really highly of yourself, don’t you Ash?”
He shrugged and said, “Well, someone has to.”
We both laughed together, and didn’t hear Grandma approach until she cleared her throat. “Well, apparently you two are having fun. Should I just excuse myself and let you guys continue chatting?”
“Grandma, by all means, please sit down. Your granddaughter was just telling me how wonderful she thinks I am.”
Grandma guffawed. “Really? That one? Talk about emotions? Ha!”
Ash looked amused as I shot my grandmother an annoyed glance. “So what does this mean? You’re emotionally stunted? I could probably help you with that.” He sounded courteous and caring, but his eyes still had that wicked gleam, and it was clear that he was mocking me. Grandma sat down, and annoyingly, Ash kept talking to me as if it was perfectly normal to ask personal questions to a woman while her granny sat nearby. He had a lot of nerve.
“So…do you not date divorcees?” He reached for a gummy worm and bit off the head, chewing carefully as if it were a delicacy.
“How’s that gummy worm?” I said, avoiding the subject.
“Almost as good as a dessert at one of my restaurants.”
“You have restaurants? Plural?” Grandma said, clearly impressed.
He nodded.
“Oh, this whole time, I thought you were a chef,” I said, now curious and grudgingly impressed as well.
“I do that too, from time to time.”
“Oh…So you must be busy then?”
“Not too busy to date, but the girl I keep trying to ask out either disappears before I can ask her or tries to avoid me,” he said. Without thinking about it, I again started comparing Ash to Hugo. Hugo was sweet and a gentleman. He was funny and easy-going. Ash was more intense and liked to challenge me. I didn’t know how I felt about that. With my pushy personality, I felt Ash and I would eventually bump heads way too much. Yes, Ash was definitely more of a risk.
“So are you going to take your granny’s advice?” His words interrupted my thoughts.
“Granny’s just trying to marry me off. She can’t be trusted.”
Grandma laughed. “I’m still sitting here you two.”
“You’re right. You can’t trust Grandma. She seems a little shifty.”
“Hey!” Grandma protested half-heartedly with a smile.
Ash grinned at her and continued. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“I don’t know,” I said noncommittally. I knew full well that I had nothing planned besides catching up on various Netflix shows that I had in my queue.
“Great. I’ll pick you up at eight. Wear something nice. I’m going to sweep you off your feet and all that jazz.”
He surprised me then by kissing my forehead and walking away, but not before he said, “Thanks for allowing me to crash your granddaughter-grandma date. It was a true pleasure meeting you, Grandma.”
And then, like that, he was gone. I realized then that I had set myself up for a huge headache or for abject failure. I was goi
ng to be dating two men, but I honestly wouldn’t change anything. I wanted to get to know Ash better. As I pondered my situation, I found myself staring in his direction. Grandma had to clear her throat to get my attention.
“Now that’s one good-looking man, and he’s funny too. If I were five years younger, I would date him,” my grandmother said with a sigh.
“Really, Grandma? Only five years younger?”
She giggled. “I’m a cougar.”
I shook my head. “What am I going to do with you?”
Chapter Six
“You smell nice,” Ash said as he stood next to me, supposedly to assist me. I didn’t need assistance as I brought the knife down on the head of cabbage sitting on the counter in front of me with a whack.
He jumped back, trying to stay clear of me. “Did I say something wrong? That’s a whole lot of aggression channeled towards a head of cabbage.”
“Aggression? You haven’t seen aggression yet, Ash,” I growled.
“Oh man. Something tells me you’re upset about something.”
I tilted my head to the side. “No kidding. Could it be because I’m standing here in four-inch heels, a nice dress and wearing an apron because my date has me cutting up vegetables in the kitchen?”
“Hold on, are you telling me that you aren’t enjoying yourself?”
“Nope, not at all.”
“But you’re with me, how could you not enjoy yourself? I’m great company.”
Unthinking, I motioned to shake my fist at him, but completely forgot the knife was also in my hand.
“Woah woah woah,” he said stepping back with his hands up in the air. “Don’t kill me. It’s not that bad of a date.”
“Says who?” I gave him the evil eye and continue cutting the cabbage like he had shown me. After he had picked me up, we had talked about things we regretted not learning earlier on in life, and I had admitted that I wished I had learned how to cook. Of course, Ash had then insisted on granting my wish.
At first, I thought he was kidding me when he led me through the crowded restaurant and into the busy kitchen, but it became painfully clear when he tied an apron around my waist with glee that it wasn’t going to be so funny anymore.
