The Daddy Project: A Single Dad Romance

“A blind date?” Kristi laughed. She couldn’t help herself. “Trust me, you do not have to apologize. My family does the same thing to me all the time.”

“Really? So…you’re not seeing anyone?”

“No, I’m not.” Although she was surprised he asked. “A fact that makes my mother a little crazy. Yesterday she called about my aunt’s Fourth of July barbecue. She was going to invite this guy who used to live across the street when I was in high school.”

“How did you handle it?”

Should she tell him? If she did, it might make him less uncomfortable. “I did the same thing you just did.”

His eyes narrowed.

“I told her I’d met someone, and your name kind of slipped out.”

There was no humor in his laugh. “So your family thinks you’re taking me to your aunt’s barbecue.”

“I guess so. I’ll have to come up with some excuse why you won’t be there but—”

“And my mother will expect you to be at the cocktail party she’s throwing for my sister’s birthday.”

She didn’t respond, but then he didn’t really seem to be talking to her anyway.

“This could work. You come to my sister’s birthday party. I go to your aunt’s barbecue.” He sounded calm and rational, as though he was laying out the steps in a lab experiment. “What do you think?”

She was pretty sure he didn’t want to know what she was thinking. “I don’t know. I used to lie to my mother about some of the guys I was dating, but I’ve never lied about someone I’m not dating.”

He shrugged. “So you’d rather spend an afternoon at a family picnic with the guy who lived across the street?”

God, no. “I’d rather go by myself.”

“That’s how I feel about my sister’s birthday party. But unless I come up with an alternate plan, I’m going to be paired with my mother’s bridge partner’s daughter.”

“So I heard.” And she would suffer the same fate if she didn’t make plans of her own.

“What is it with families?”

“They mean well,” she said. “At least mine does. My mom was a single parent, too, and it was hard for her. I think she always wished she’d find someone but never did, and now she’s shifted that focus onto me.”

“My family wants to find a new mother for Molly and Martha.” His voice was thick with resentment. “They seem to think I’m in over my head.”

“Oh, I’m sure they don’t. Your girls are great. They’re happy. Anyone can see they’re well cared for.”

“Thank you.” The tension around his eyes softened.

“You’re welcome.”

“So, how about it? You come to my sister’s birthday party, I’ll go to your family barbecue, and we’ll call it even.”

Say no. “Sure,” she said instead.

He offered his hand to seal the deal. “It’s a date.”

She shook it. “A fake date.”

“Make that two fake dates.” He smiled and her insides turned to Jell-O.

Chapter Four

Kristi tugged her hand out of Nate’s and hiked a thumb over one shoulder. “I’ll just go and start sorting.”

“Sure, good idea. And I’ll run out to the market but, ah, first I have to make a call.”

Kristi made her escape, collected her things from the foyer and headed down the hallway to the children’s bedroom.

He was going to call his mother. There’d be no turning back after that. What were they thinking? What was she thinking? Her mother and Aunt Wanda would be happy, but how was she going to explain this to Jenna? Only time would tell if this fake-date idea was brilliant or ill-conceived.

The giggling emanating from Molly and Martha’s room was like music to Kristi’s ears. Such sweet kids. Each girl was wearing dress-up clothes over their pajamas. Molly’s black spaghetti-strap cocktail dress bunched on the floor around her. Martha had a messenger bag slung crosswise over her shoulder and a floppy-brimmed hat all but covered her eyes. Scattered around them were toys and clothes and the largest collection of stuffed animals Kristi had ever seen.