“You slept with her, didn’t you?” he asked, sounding delighted.
“Just the one time,” I said. “I made it clear to her that I wanted to take things slow.”
“And how’s that been working for you?” he asked with amusement.
“Pretty well, so far,” I said, without enthusiasm.
“You’re hard up, aren’t you?” he laughed.
I frowned at him. “It’s fucking uncomfortable, dude. It’s like she’s awakened all these…different feelings. Now I think about sex a few times each day.”
“Wow, looks like you’re finally starting to move on.”
I nodded. “Yup, it only took three fucking years,” I said. “To be honest, I’m not quite there yet. But I’m definitely ready to attempt to move on.”
“Good for you, man,” Luis nodded approvingly. “Do you have a clearer picture of her?”
I scrolled through my photo library and found a picture of Kristen playing blocks with Noah on the floor. I saw Luis’ eyes grow wide.
“What?” I asked, glancing down at the picture myself.
Luis looked up at me slowly. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but…she looks a lot like—”
“Daphne,” I finished for him. “Yeah, I know.”
“Oh good, I wasn’t sure if you were aware of that.”
“Honestly, I wasn’t at first. I mean there was something about her that bugged me a little, but I could never quite put my finger on it. Then it hit me the first day that she babysat Noah. She was lying next to this picture of Daphne, and when I saw their faces side by side, it hit me.”
“And how did you take it?”
“Not well,” I said. “Not well at all.”
“Is this just a fling?” Luis wanted to know. “Or are you serious about this girl?”
“At the moment, I’m just taking things slow and seeing where it goes,” I said. “But things are a little complicated because of Noah.”
“I was going to say,” he nodded. “The kid looks like he’s in love himself.”
“That’s pretty accurate,” I admitted. “He loves Kristen.”
“Then you need to be careful,” Luis said immediately. “If he starts thinking of her as his mother—”
“I know,” I sighed. “I’ve been worrying about that lately.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you interested in Kristen for Kristen?” Luis asked. “Or do you see her as a replacement for Daphne?”
The question had me shaking in my shoes for a moment. What was the honest answer? I had no idea, which was exactly why I wanted to take things slow with Kristen. I needed to figure out how I felt about her, once I’d removed her from my mixed feelings about my dead wife.
“I need time to figure that one out,” I said honestly. “This is all unchartered territory for me.”
Luis nodded, but he looked concerned suddenly.
“What is it?” I asked.