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“Diet Coke is great.”
She hands one to me, and then I follow her into the living room, where Cody already has the movie up on the screen. Cash follows us, curling up in the dog bed by the television. Cody is standing in front of the TV, fiddling with the remote. I have a feeling he’s been standing here waiting for us to come to him instead of going back into the kitchen.
“Normally, we’d have popcorn and candy for movie night, but I think we only have the microwave stuff right now,” Cody says.
“That’s okay. Maybe we can plan a regular movie night some other day,” I tell him, my eyes on Katie.
She minutely nods her head, and I feel like I could pump my fist in the air the way Cody did earlier. Katie sits down on one side of the couch, and Cody plops down in the middle. I take the only spot left on the other side of Cody. I wish I could be next to Katie, but I’m guessing these are their typical spots.
As the movie starts and I eat my food, I can’t help but continue to look over at Cody and Katie. Could this become a regular thing for us? Watching movies, having dinner, spending time together… I could absolutely get into nights like this.
CHAPTER 11
Katie
Nolan Ellis is in my house.
Nolan fucking Ellis is sitting on my couch.
What is my life right now? I don’t even know how I got here. One minute, I was lamenting over what to wear with a dress code of “casual,” and the next, I was watching my date cook dinner with my son.
At the moment, Cody is leaning against Nolan’s shoulder, chomping down on popcorn like this is an everyday occurrence.
I guess he’s met Nolan several times now, so I’m sure he’s comfortable with him. That should help this situation, but instead, it’s making my head spin even more.
This isn’t what I imagined for my first date with a man in years. I figured we’d go out to dinner somewhere, have a glass of wine, and then I’d be home by eleven. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe my first date would involve my son.
I wanted to keep this a secret from him. Hell, I wanted to keep it a secret from everyone. That’s what I’d planned. Before Nolan arrived, I’d texted him to stay in his car until Sue arrived so I wouldn’t have to deal with introductions. Look where that idea got me. Snuggling on the couch with the man I haven’t stopped fantasizing about since New Year’s and my amazingly adaptable son who has always looked up to that same man.
I kind of like it.
I mentally cringe. No, I can’t get used to this. This can only be a onetime thing. I will not let Cody get attached to Nolan only to have him disappear in a few weeks when he gets tired of dealing with a single mom.
A hand lands on the back of my neck, and I look over at Nolan. Cody has slipped down to lay his head in Nolan’s lap. He’s out cold, as he usually is when we have movie nights. It always makes me laugh when he’s adamant he won’t fall asleep, but three-quarters of the movie goes by and he’s down for the count.
Nolan smiles at me, a soft, happy look in his eyes. He looks comfortable over there with my kid asleep against him. “Should we move him?” he whispers.
“Only if you’re uncomfortable. I usually wait until the movie is over before I wake him up to go to bed.” I’ve learned that if the movie is still going, Cody refuses to go to bed.
“Then we’ll wait.” Nolan starts to massage my neck when he turns back to watch the movie. He laughs at all the funny parts, as if he’s genuinely enjoying the movie. There wasn’t any grumbling when Cody suggested an animated movie. He didn’t even make a face at some of the cheesier parts.
Is this all an act to get into my pants? He’ll be in for a rude awakening when he realizes that nothing will be happening tonight while my kid is in the house with us. Is that when he’ll show me his true colors?
That’s not Nolan, and you know it.
I fucking hate how cynical I am sometimes. But after years of men proving how worthless they are, it’s hard to change your thinking when a good guy does the unexpected. What else am I going to do but question his motives when no other guy has ever done something as selfless as hanging out with an eight-year-old because their plans got canceled?
My body starts to melt a little under Nolan’s fingers. When they move up into my hair, his nails scrape against my scalp. A little moan slips from my throat. That feels incredible.
Nolan chuckles, and I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. I’m not willing to move my head on the off chance he stops doing whatever magic his fingers are creating. I close my eyes to better enjoy the massage, when suddenly, Nolan’s whispering my name.
I blink awake, only just realizing that I fell asleep. The TV is off, the only light coming from the lamp on the end table by Nolan.
“Hey, little dove,” Nolan says.
I sit up, forcing his hand to drop from my head. “What time is it?”
“Just past ten.”
