He cocked his head. "Yeah?"
Her cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink. "I just thought you might be thinking about asking me back to your place."
A warm rush of pleasure spread through him, and he regretfully shook his head. "Sorry. No."
"Oh." The depth of disappointment in her voice was probably the biggest compliment he'd ever received.
"I'm not going home."
"Oh." Her brow furrowed. "Wait. I'm about to be really mortified, aren't I? Do you have a date?"
"Actually, yeah. She's five years old and as sweet as can be."
When she only stared blankly, he laughed. "I'm babysitting," he said. "But you're welcome to tag along."
*
"More, please, Matthew. One more chapter?"
Hannah stood inside the kitchen, just out of sight of the living room where Matthew was reading a Magic Treehouse book to five-year-old Faith, Brent Sinclair's little girl. An owner and head of security for The Fix on Sixth, Brent was also a single dad. Hannah wasn't sure if he was working tonight or if he had a date. All she knew was that Selma had been on deck when they arrived, and she'd flashed Hannah a thumbs-up sign when Hannah and Matthew had taken over babysitting.
Or, rather, when Matthew had. Babysitting wasn't high on Hannah's list of skills. Matthew, however, was a natural. A fact he proved as he negotiated with the little girl for another chapter, eliciting a solemn promise that bedtime would follow.
"Okay," he said when the chapter was over. "Now go run in and say goodnight to Miss Hannah. I bet you can even get a glass of milk from her."
Hannah smiled and went to pour the milk, then accepted the enthusiastic hug. Faith took the cup, downed a huge gulp of milk, then went running back to Matthew.
As the two of them headed to Faith's bedroom, Hannah brought a bottle of wine to the coffee table, along with two glasses.
"That's a good idea," Matthew said when he returned. He sat next to her and began to pour the wine. "Hard to believe someone so tiny can run you so ragged."
"You're really great with her," Hannah said.
"Well, she's a good kid. Brent's a lucky man. Except..."
She shifted to look at him better. "What?"
"It's just ... well, I hope he doesn't stay alone for long. Other than that, his life looks a lot like the one I dream about."
"Really?" She shifted on the couch so she could see him better. "How so?"
"The full meal deal. Friends. A house. Kids. I want a wife, but still, Brent's got a lot more of the puzzle in place than I do."
"You didn't mention your job."
"Oh, that's important too. I have to support them, right? But I'm not much of a businessman."
She thought about his three gyms around Austin and almost argued the point. But instead, she asked, "If that's what you want, then why aren't you dating someone? Or married, for that matter?" The question was sincere, but there was an emotion underscoring it that she almost didn't recognize. Relief that he wasn't involved with someone else? Jealously that the someone might not be her?
Seriously, what was going on with her?
She took a sip of wine to clear her head, then realized he hadn't answered the question. "Matthew? I'd like to know. Why don't you have a woman in your life?"
"Think of it as the opposite of what I told your dad. Most women want more than a high school dropout who can't even manage to keep three low-overhead gyms going."
She'd lifted her glass, but now she set it back down again. "What are you talking about? I thought your locations were doing great? Hell, I thought you were thinking about franchising."
He sighed. "I'm making it sound more doom and gloom than it really is. My business is doing fine--it's only one location that's not pulling its weight, and I think I may have to give up on it before it brings down my overall bottom line."