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Clark cleared his throat. Even his brother thought there was something going on with Merry. That wasn’t good.
“Actually, no. I am meeting a woman I’ve been talking to on a dating site.”
Sam’s blue eyes narrowed. “Why would you do that when you have a flesh and blood woman who is completely into you right next door?”
“Merry isn’t into me.”
“The hell she isn’t. That girl watches you with that sweet, sappy look I’ve only seen in romance movies. She thinks you’re it, man, and you’re going to ignore that to go out with some woman from the internet? Have you at least seen her picture?”
“No, and she hasn’t seen mine. I didn’t want her looking into me before we met.”
“Are you insane? It is the digital age! There is no reason to go on some virtual blind date when you can video chat and see what this woman looks like.”
“Maybe I don’t care about her physical appearance. I am more concerned about meeting someone I can see as a serious partner. Have a lasting relationship based on mutual respect and—”
“Sex? Please tell me you were going to say sex.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Sam shook his head. “You can have the respect and all that, but you need to also admit that sex and attraction are important, especially to a relationship starting out. You have the whole honeymoon phase, where you can’t keep your hands off each other, but not if you two have no chemistry.”
Clark said with disgust, “I’m an adult male with a child. I’m not going to bring women back to make out on the couch like a randy teenager who can’t control himself.”
“Good God, what happened to you?” Sam looked ready to tear his hair out. “Just because you’re a father doesn’t mean you stop living. I get that Patrice hurt you, and in the long term Jace, but you cut yourself off. You could have been dating all this time and found a nice girl to love. You didn’t have to be alone.”
“I wanted it that way, all right? I didn’t want to have to date someone, introduce her to my son, and have her gone the next year. I don’t want to jump from one relationship to the next because I made another mistake.”
“Are you talking about Jace? As your mistake?”
“No. Jace wasn’t and will never be a mistake, but Patrice was.” Clark sighed, searching for the right words that would make his intrusive brother back off. “I’ll always be grateful to her for giving me Jace, but let’s say I dated Merry. She’s sweet. She’s beautiful. And she likes Jace, maybe she even grows to love him, but then what we have fizzles. Then I’m stuck in an uncomfortable situation. My son is heartbroken because he wants Victoria and Chris to be his grandparents. That’s what he told me when I was tucking him into bed the other night, after one casual dinner with Merry. That he wanted me to fall in love with Merry. That he wanted the Winterses to be our family.” Clark sat running his fingers through his hair. “Maybe I shouldn’t have let him spend so much time with them.”
“Having people in your son’s life who love him isn’t a mistake,” Sam said softly. “We got the shit end of the stick when it comes to parents. But you are an amazing dad, and moving here, you found the Winters family, who as far as I can tell love you like a son and treat your kid like he’s their blood. I could not imagine a better blessing. To top it off, if you just tried with Merry, I think you two could be the real deal.”
If he was a selfish man, he wouldn’t be second-guessing getting involved with Merry. He’d do it because he wanted her, but there were too many hearts on the line to be broken if he made the wrong choice. “She’s a romantic, Sam. She believes in true love. In long-lasting love. I love you. I love Jace. But I have never fallen in love with a woman. I’m not even sure I know how.”
“You treat her well, you make sure you’re fulfilling her needs. It’s not that hard.”
“Oh yeah? How many times have you been in love?”
Sam shrugged. “A couple, but the difference between you and me is I’m an asshole. I can’t be in a relationship because I’m too selfish. But not you. You are the kind of guy women want to find.”
“Well, hopefully the woman I’m meeting feels like I’m worth the wait.”
Sam sighed, a resigned exhale that worked his entire body. “I think you’re wasting your time, but what do I know? Good luck on your date.” Sam took a step to leave the room and turned back at the last moment. “I do have to ask…why do you assume you’ll fail with Merry? Our parents are still married, as cold as they are. You’re built for monogamy. Why won’t you at least give her a chance?”
Honesty poured out of Clark like hot soup from a thermos. “Because I want her, all right? I keep thinking about her even when I don’t want to. I almost kissed her the other day, in front of Jace. I like her, but it’s that attraction that scares me.”
Sam laughed. “There may be hope for you yet, little brother.”
Chapter 14
Merry
Brews and Chews bustled with the Friday crowd of early evening patrons who were looking to unwind after a long week. The place wouldn’t start filling up until closer to ten with the drinkers and dancers. Merry took a breath, her gaze scanning the place for the fifth time since arriving. It was a little after eight, and although her sister had griped at her about arriving for a date half an hour early, Merry needed the time to collect herself. She’d invited her siblings and friends to hang out at the bar. Holly had insisted on driving her—in case things went well and Merry wanted to let him drive her home.
And if it went south, it felt safer to have a group there in case he turned out to be a creep.
Noel, Nick, Sally, and Pike sat at the table next to them since there wasn’t enough room. Tara was late, as usual, and Merry couldn’t wait to give her the voodoo peen. She hadn’t told anyone yet that she’d been oddly inspired by Tara and Holly’s request and had a tub of various peens by her bed and was slowly filling another. She was still working on the elf one for Holly, but she’d made a Santa one for fun, with a long white beard hanging from the head and a buckle between the twins. It turned out adorable, but it was one of the main reasons she hadn’t wanted Clark climbing up to her bedroom. That very obvious project was facing out against the wall of the clear plastic tub, as if silently screaming Let me out!
