Not Quite Dating

by Catherine Bybee

  Jack reached up and pushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes. His smile wavered, and she bit on her lower lip.

  “C’mon, Mom. Let’s go in.” Danny tugged on her hand, breaking Jack’s deep stare.

  “OK, OK.”

  Jack let his hand fall and held the door for them before following them into the store.

  Danny lit up the minute he hit the aisle with the trucks and trains. “Oh, cool. Look at this one.”

  Jessie glanced at the toy Danny was cooing over while he pressed a few buttons, putting the truck into motion inside the box. Soon he moved on to another colorful rolling gadget.

  She found herself smiling when only a few minutes prior she was tired of shopping and wanting nothing more than to leave the mall and go home. Something about Jack’s presence warmed her from the inside. From the way Danny was smiling up at Jack, he liked his impromptu visit as well.

  Jessie warned herself against any warm and fuzzies when it came to him. She glanced at his lips and remembered their kiss. She shook her head, dispelled the thought, and asked, “What are you doing here, Jack?”

  “Christmas shopping.”

  Yeah, right! When Jessie looked down at his hands, she saw he wasn’t holding a single bag. “Not very successful, I see.”

  “I don’t see any bags in your hands, either.”

  True. They’d been there for over two hours and found nothing. The crowded state of the mall didn’t help. “This time of year brings out all the shoppers. This place is always a zoo.”

  Danny glanced up to her and said, “What about the zoo?”

  “I said this place is a zoo,” she said a little louder over the noise of the toys and the overexcited kids.

  “Oh, I thought you said we were going to the zoo.”

  “No, that’s not what I said.”

  “Hey, that’s a good idea,” Jack jumped in. “Beats this place.”

  Danny’s eyes lit up. “Can we, Mommy? I love the zoo.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “My treat,” Jack said before she could utter anything about the admission price.

  “It’s kind of far away,” Jessie pointed out.

  “Which means we need to get a move on.” Jack tugged her elbow. “C’mon, it’ll be fun. I haven’t been to the zoo in years.”

  “Your dad lives on a ranch. You probably see animals all the time.”

  “Horses and cows. Not lions and tigers and bears.” Jack’s expression was as hopeful as Danny’s. She hated always being the spoilsport, the voice of financial reason. The bad guy.

  “C’mon, Mommy.”

  Jack knelt down to Danny’s level and smiled up at her. “Yeah, c’mon, Mom. Danny and I haven’t been to the zoo in forever.”

  Oh lord…Jack’s dimples combined with Danny’s hopeful smile were her undoing.

  “OK. Let’s go.”

  Danny jumped up and down, grabbed Jack’s hand, and raced for the door.

  Jessie ran to keep up with them.

  Chapter Eight

  Danny munched on popcorn and peered through the animal nursery window at the baby monkey sleeping in a crib. Jessie stood back with Jack at her side.

  He had insisted on driving, so they had dropped Jessie’s car off at her apartment and taken his truck.

  “We can take my truck,” he’d said.

  “Oh, I can drive.”

  “No offense, darlin’, but I think my truck is in a little better shape than your car.”

  She’d tried to act offended when she said, “It’s just old. Your truck isn’t exactly young.”

  “Honey, your car is a senior citizen in a retirement home playing bingo while my truck is still young enough to line dance at a honky-tonk.”

  Jessie laughed, and then Danny had the final word.

  “You have a truck?”

  It was all over but the driving.

  She offered to pay their way inside the zoo, but Jack refused. It was his idea, his treat.

  Still, with him paying, him driving, it was starting to feel too much like a date. “This isn’t a date,” she told him once Danny moved to another window.

  Jack slid her a sly look. “Of course it isn’t. We’re not dating. We’re friends.”

  Oh, but he said “friends” in such a sensual manner, Jessie felt her knees wobble. “Right, friends.”

  Jack leaned close to her ear so no one could hear him. “Friends that don’t kiss.”

  “Exactly.” Only with his lips so close to her ear, she was having a hard time forgetting about his incredible kiss.

  “Exactly,” he parroted before pulling away.

  “I wanna see the snakes. Hey, Jack, did you know they have a whole building with nothing but snakes in it?”

  Jack winked at Jessie and reached for Danny’s hand. “Lead the way, partner. I love snakes.”

  Danny led Jack around the snake pavilion and the monkey and gorilla habitats, and through the aviary. Jessie squirmed while viewing the snakes, which resulted in some serious razzing from the guys. “I’m a girl, girls don’t like snakes,” she’d told them.

  Then in the aviary, Jack used her words to their advantage. “We’re boys, we don’t like birds.”

  But they walked inside the enclosure anyway. One flying friend left a tiny present on Jack’s shoulder, and both Danny and Jessie laughed until their guts hurt. “You hurt the bird’s feelings,” Jessie told him, laughing.

  Jack found the humor and tossed back the teasing every chance he got.

  They had a late lunch/early dinner at one of the concession stands. The warmed-up hamburgers and fries were actually pretty good. Jack bought Danny a stuffed animal in the form of a snake, which he carried around all afternoon. “I’m going to call him Tex.”

  “Why Tex?” Jack asked.

  “Cuz you bought him and you’re from Texas.”

  The day couldn’t have been more perfect. Danny was in heaven, and he led Jack around like a long-lost friend whom he couldn’t get enough of. She realized him being drawn to Jack might have more to do with Jack being a man than anything else. No matter how much Jessie wanted to be able to be everything for her son, she couldn’t be his dad.

  Not that she was casting Jack in that role, but Danny needed some male influence. A friend like Jack in her life might help make up for some of what Danny was missing.

  As the sun started to set and the zoo was about to close, Danny was holding Jack with one hand and Tex with the other. “I’m in a Christmas play at my school,” Danny told Jack. “Can you come and watch it?”

  Jack shot her a look. Jessie realized he was asking for her take on the invitation. She didn’t mind, but didn’t want Jack to say yes just to please her son. “Jack has to work sometimes, Danny.”

  “When is it?” Jack asked.

  “Next Friday. It’s at ten in the morning.”

  “Well, if your mom doesn’t mind…” Jack held her gaze.

  “If Danny wants you there, I don’t see why not.”

  “Whoo hoo! My aunt Monica is coming, too. I go to Foothill Elementary, do you know where that is? It’s really easy to find.” Danny rattled on about the play and the songs they’d learned. Danny had them singing Christmas carols as they walked out of the zoo.

  They piled into Jack’s truck, giving Danny the whole backseat so he could sleep on the way home. He stayed awake long enough to see some of the Christmas lights on display in Griffith Park. Once they hit the freeway, he was out.

  “He had a great time. Thanks for this, Jack.”

  He merged into traffic, which was incredibly heavy even though it was past seven.

  “What about you? Did you have a good time?” he asked.

  “I did. It was a nice day off. I can’t remember the last time I stole a day to just have fun.” Her feet ached from walking all day, her cheeks from smiling.

  “You have a great kid, Jessie. You’re doing a wonderful job with him.”

  She peeked into the backseat at her sleeping son. “He�
��s a great kid. He adores you.”

  Jack smiled. “Feeling’s mutual. Listen, about the Christmas play—”

  “If you can’t go, he’ll understand. I can make—”

  “No,” he interrupted. “I want to go. Only if it’s really OK with you. I saw how he latched on to me, which I’m fine with, but if it bothers you, I’ll understand if you want me to keep my distance.”

  Jessie stared at Jack’s profile for a few seconds and considered his words. “You really do get it, don’t you? The emotional toll of any relationship I may have with someone and how that can affect Danny?”

  “Didn’t you tell me your mom brings men in and out of your life?”

  “Yeah, she does.”

  “You must think about that when you bring friends around Danny.”

  “I don’t bring ‘friends’ around Danny. I can’t even tell you the last time I was on a real date. I refuse to be my mother. If you and I were dating, I’d probably have said no to the zoo today. For the very reasons you bring up. Danny is missing a father in his life. There’s nothing I can do about that other than try and keep him away from the men I date. Or risk him getting attached and disappointed when things don’t work out.”

  Jack managed to get into the carpool lane, and traffic flowed a little easier. “I guess it’s a good thing we’re not dating, then.”

  “Right.”

  Later, Jack hoisted a snoozing Danny from the truck up onto his shoulder and let the poor tyke sleep while he walked him into Jessie’s apartment.

  She led him through the tidy living room and into Danny’s bedroom.

  Jack laid him down on his bed, and Jessie removed his shoes and tugged off his jeans. Danny murmured in his sleep and rolled over with Tex in his grip.

  Jessie kissed his forehead and led Jack back to the living room.

  A Christmas tree stood in the corner of the room, up on a table to give it some height. There were a couple presents under it, a few strands of lights giving it some life. The apartment was tidy, but incredibly small. How the three of them lived in such a compact place baffled him.

  “Would you like some coffee?” Jessie offered. “Or cocoa?”

  “I haven’t had cocoa in years.”

  She smiled and walked toward the kitchen. “First the zoo, now cocoa. I’m showing you all the good things in life.”

  More than she could ever know, he wanted to say. “Monica lives with you here?”

  Jessie removed mugs from a cupboard and filled them both with water before placing them in the microwave. “There’s a hide-a-bed in the couch. When I work, she uses my bed.”

  “How long before she’s done with school?” Jack sank into a chair at the kitchen table.

  “May. I’m so proud of her. She’s done well in school, never complains about things here. She’s going to be a great nurse.”

  “Big praise from the older sister.”

  The microwave dinged, and Jessie removed the steaming mugs and put generous portions of cocoa into the cups. She fished into the pantry and pulled out a bag of mini marshmallows.

  “You’re a serious cocoa die-hard.”

  “I have a five-year-old. Marshmallows are a must.”

  Jessie topped the mugs and handed him his cup. The first sip reminded him of snowy winter days and ice-cold noses. “Has Danny ever been to the snow?”

  “No, I wish. The closest we came was a few flurries that hit the foothills near my mom’s place. It didn’t stick. I keep meaning to drive us up into Big Bear when it snows.”

  “Christmas in California is strange for me. I’m used to bundling up and knocking the dirt or snow off my boots before going into the house.”

  “I didn’t think it snowed much in Texas.”

  “It does, some.” He almost told her that he’d spent more than one Christmas in Colorado. Once his father realized how much he and his sister would pine for their mother’s return during the holidays, he’d distract them with ski trips to Colorado. They had a cabin up there that Jack tried to visit once a season to get some skiing in. “A lot more than it does here.”

  “It’s always a palm tree Christmas. Last year we actually ate on my mom’s patio. The inside was too warm from the oven being on all day.” Jessie blew into her cocoa and caught Jack’s eyes.

  Both of them sat there staring at each other. He’d give anything to know what she was thinking. What did she really see when she gazed at him? He saw an honest-to-goodness girl next door whom he was quickly learning he couldn’t live without.

  What was he to her? A dreamer, a wanderer. A liar. Jack broke their eye contact and glanced at his watch. “Wow, look at the time.”

  “It’s late.”

  Jack drank the last of his cocoa and took the mug to her sink. He needed to get out of her place before he broke down and kissed her again. If he did, he knew she’d pull the plug on their “friendship.” He wouldn’t give her a reason to push him away. Jack’s main goal in life was to wiggle under her skin until she couldn’t live without him.

  He already knew he could spend every day with Jessie and never get enough.

  The beginning of the week sped by. Between work and a few stolen hours shopping for Christmas, Jessie’s days ran into each other. Danny talked about Jack and the zoo so much that Monica told Jessie she felt as if she’d been there. “You will remember to introduce me to him on Friday, won’t you?” Monica teased.

  “Give me a break, Mo. You caught me kissing the guy, not exactly a family moment.”

  Monica laughed. “I know. Just doing my sisterly duty and giving you a hard time.”

  Jessie was getting ready for work while Danny settled into the couch for movie time with his aunt. Danny never made it through the first hour without crashing, but it was his routine, and it worked for them.

  The phone rang, surprising both Jessie and Monica. They didn’t usually get calls after eight.

  Jessie answered it when she didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

  “Is this Jessie?”

  The voice was slightly familiar, but Jessie couldn’t place it. “This is. Who’s this?”

  “Hi, Jessie, it’s Brad, from the Christmas party at The Morrison.”

  Jessie was stunned. She’d completely forgotten about the man. “Right. Hello.”

  “I haven’t called at a bad time, have I?”

  “No, um, hold on.” Jessie covered the receiver of the phone and spoke to Monica in a hushed voice. “It’s that guy from the party. Brad.”

  Monica narrowed her eyes at her. “What about Jack?”

  Talk about guilt. Instead of saying anything else to Monica, Jessie stepped into the privacy of her bedroom to take the call, keeping the accusing eyes away. “Sorry about that. I was getting my son settled.”

  “I can call another time if it’s better.”

  “No, now’s good.”

  “Good.” His voice was kind, and somewhat flat. No real humor in it, but nothing that stood out as creepy, either.

  “How was your trip?”

  “My trip?”

  “Didn’t you say you were out of town last week?” She remembered that much from their conversation.

  “Right. Fine, I have a few clients back east that needed attention.”

  OK, so he was a businessman. That was good. “Oh. What do you do for a living?”

  She told herself she was just making conversation.

  “I’m an attorney.”

  She cringed. Didn’t Jack say he looked like a lawyer? “I’ll bet that’s exciting.”

  “Corporate law is quite boring, actually.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Jessie told him, trying her best to push Jack’s voice out of her head.

  “If you wouldn’t mind being bored to tears over my stories of work, I’d love to take you out.”

  “I’m sure it isn’t that bad.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  What did she have to lose? She hated that she felt guilty, and tried to push the emotion aside.
“I’d like that. Something casual, if that’s OK with you.”

  “I know just the place. How’s this Saturday?”

  She had to work Friday night, but she could manage Saturday as long as Monica could stay with Danny. “I’ll have to check with my babysitter, but Saturday sounds good.”

  “Let me give you my number and you can let me know once you talk to your sitter.”

  Jessie jotted down his number. “OK, I’ll try and call you tomorrow.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.”

  They said their good-byes, and Jessie sat on the edge of her bed with a mixture of emotions rolling in her stomach.

  One the one hand, Brad did seem like a nice person, a professional man who could offer some stability to Jessie’s life. She couldn’t say she was all that attracted to the man. She was excited to get the call, but not in an anticipating kind of way. More of a nervous, Should she or shouldn’t she kind of way.

  Jack wouldn’t leave her mind. He was there, shaking his finger at her, telling her the man looked like a lawyer. The way he said “lawyer” sounded dirty and unacceptable.

  Jessie tried to shake the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as she left her bedroom.

  Monica met her in the kitchen with her hands perched on her hips and a scowl on her face. “You’re going out with him, aren’t you?”

  Jessie glanced over to Danny, who wasn’t paying any attention to them. “I’d like to. Can you sit with Danny Saturday? I’ll be home by ten.” Having an end time on a first date was a good safety net in case the evening was a complete bomb.

  “What about Jack?”

  “Jack and I aren’t dating, Mo. You know that. He’s a friend.”

  Monica wasn’t buying it. “Then why do your eyes light up every time you talk about him?”

  “They do not.”

  “Do too.”

  “Stop. Will you watch Danny or not?”

  “I’ll watch him. But I think you’re making a mistake.”

  “I already told Jack about Brad.” Which was met with the same ugliness Monica was giving her.

  “So you’ll tell him about this date, too?”

  “Maybe, if the subject comes up.” Not likely. She didn’t need the third degree from him as well. “I’ve got to go.” Jessie grabbed her purse and kissed Danny good night before sailing out the door.