46

C H A P T E R 4
J E N N A
I was surprised by the wave of attraction that ran through me at the sight of the stranger. I didn’t even know his name. I only knew he was a father with a sweet and very sad
little girl.
That and he looked something akin to a Roman statue. I could see the outline of his rippling muscles through his shirt, and his pants hugged his ass perfectly. When he crouched in front of his daughter, lust had curled in my stomach. Those pants should have been illegal. They fit him like a second skin, and I struggled to keep my mind off the thought of him without them on.
When I ran into the girl, Tess, I didn’t want to leave her alone. Maybe it was some maternal instinct in me, but as soon as her calm demeanor broke, all I wanted to do was embrace her and tell her everything would be alright.
I left in a hurry after the two decided to stay in the store. I spotted Sara as she strutted toward me with two black bags in her hand, and I stared in confusion. I wasn’t familiar with a store that had those bags. Sara hurried to reach me, and I gestured for us to stand off to the side of the store entrance.
“What’s going on?” Sara stared at my dress-less hands.
“So, while I was in the dress store, I noticed a young girl standing there and she just looked so lost. She didn’t have anyone with her and I was worried something might happen to her.”
“Okay...”
“Well, her dad came and found her. And...” Sara waved a hand to motion for me to continue. “Well, he was really fucking hot.”
Sara smirked and nudged me. “Ooohh! Jenna thinks a boy is cute and he’s a dad!”
“Cut it out!” I swatted her on the shoulder. She just continued to grin.
“This is almost perfect though!” Sara laughed. “You haven’t gotten any in ages. Maybe you should ask this guy on a date?”
“Are you crazy?” I hissed, “I don’t know this man!” “Yeah, but you said he’s hot.”
“Yeah, so? He’s got a kid, so he’s probably married.” She shrugged. “Yeah probably. Too bad.”
“Yeah, too bad.”
“By the way…” Sara’s grin reminded me of the Cheshire cat and I knew she was up to something.
“What?” I narrowed my eyes at her in suspicion. “I have a gift for you!”
She lifted one of the black bags in front of my face for my scrutiny. She sighed and forced it into my hands. There was a
fairly small package in the bag, and I decided to bite the bullet and look inside.
“Sara!” I smacked her with a little more force than was required.
“What?” She started to cackle. “I thought this could help with the little dry spell you were complaining about the other day! It’s actually perfect timing, too, since you found yourself a new hottie to fantasize about.”
I growled and quickly shoved my gift into my purse. From my quick glance in the bag, I realized that Sara hid the receipt so I couldn’t return it. Could you even return vibrators?
I looked towards the store and could see the father and daughter perusing through dresses. Tess held up a dress, and I could just make out a smile on her father’s face. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself and walked back into the store. I still had to pick up a dress.
The little girl and her father were signing rapidly back and forth to each other. We’d had a deaf student in a few of my core classes in college who used an interpreter, so I had seen enough sign language to recognize it, but I didn’t have a prayer at keeping up with their quick as lightning hands. I only knew a few words and the letters of the alphabet. What fascinated me, though, was the way the man maintained eye contact with his daughter as they communicated. It was as if there was nothing in the world more interesting to him than what his child had to say. It was heartwarming to see how much this man cared about his daughter.
And that made him even more attractive.
He chuckled at something she’d said. “Redecorate your room, huh,” he murmured.
My heart leaped into my throat. Were they considering a redecorating project? If so, it had to be a sign, didn’t it?
“Um, excuse me.” I waved and neared the two. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but if you’re thinking about redecorating a bedroom, I might be able to help.” I pulled one of my business cards out of my purse and handed it to the man. “I’m an interior designer.”
He looked down at my card and read my name in his deep voice. “Jenna Robertson.”
I nodded, smiling. “Yes. I have a degree in interior design. If you’re interested in hiring me, feel free to call the number on the card.”
I smiled at the girl and heard my name called by the store owner who had gone into the back to find my dress. The girl waved as I turned to walk away. I returned the farewell and retrieved my dress. I didn’t want to stick around too long and possibly embarrass myself in front of the hot dad. I quickly found Sara sitting on a bench outside the store. She fiddled with her phone and finally noticed I stood in front of her.
“Oh, hey! Did you ask the hottie out?”
I rolled my eyes and ignored the blood that rushed to my face. “No, I did not ask him out. I gave him my business card. They seem to have a lot on their plate right now. It didn’t seem appropriate. Besides, I don’t even know his name. I think that would have been a little weird.”
Sara groaned and threw her hands up. “You’re no fun!” She scoffed and moved on. “Is there anything else you want to
do?”
“As much as I would love to walk the mall with you, I have a ton of work I need to get done.”
“That’s fair.” Sara stood and grabbed her ominous black bag. I didn’t want to even think about what she’d bought for herself.
After we made sure we had all our belongings, Sara drove me home and I finished the work I’d stopped for my mother. It wasn’t until midnight that I crawled into bed and fell into a dream with the hot dad as the main star.