Why in the world did this man show up at my mother’s door? Any other man would have run as fast and far as he could without looking back. Instead, not only did he survive the interrogation by my mother—a woman who because of her own experiences is leery of all men—but I got the feeling my mother might have had a bit of a crush on the man herself.
I stood and walked to the window where she was still gawking. Standing behind her, I placed a hand on her shoulder. “He sounds great, Mom.”
“He does.”
“You have my blessing.”
“Good. Wait. What?”
“You have my blessing to go out with him. I know he’s a few years younger than you, but I think you two will make a great couple.”
My sisters smirked at me behind my mother’s back.
Mom actually blushed. “I’m not interested in him for me. I meant for you!”
“Uh-huh.” I hid my smile and made a face that said sure you are.
“Natalia Valentina Rossi. You need to get back out into the dating world, and this man has flown all the way across the country to get to know you better.”
“He has a job out here, Mom. He travels for work, and his job happens to be in New York this time.”
“It didn’t happen to be in New York. He requested the project so he could be closer to you.”
I was taken aback. “He told you that?”
Izzy blasted through the front door. “He’s better than my coach!”
Is that…a smile I see on her face? The man wasn’t just a charmer, he was a fucking magician.
“But he’s not as good as me, is he?”
Hunter walked in behind her and closed the front door. He was sweaty, so deliciously sweaty. “You play?”
Izzy scoffed. “When she shoots a free throw, one of her legs goes up like she’s Marilyn Monroe. And a few weeks ago, she scored a goal.”
Hunter’s brows drew down. “She plays soccer, too?”
“No, that’s what she said when she miraculously hit a basket. She started jumping up and down yelling that she’d scored a goal.”
“I was excited.”
Izzy shook her head, but the smile never left her face. “I invited Hunter to come see my game on Tuesday. He’s gonna watch and tell me what I’m doing wrong, like Dad used to do.”
I looked at Hunter. “Oh, is he?”
“Is that okay with you?” he asked, looking sincere.
Izzy was so excited, I couldn’t possibly say no. At least that’s the reason I gave myself when I didn’t object.
“Sure. That’s nice of you. I have plans after the game, but I can make them a little later to stay for the recap.”
The Hunter swoon-fest continued during dessert. After we’d finished, when I caught the time on my phone, I was surprised to find it was almost ten o’clock. Normally we were out of here by eight since Izzy had school in the morning and the train ride was over an hour.
“It’s getting really late. We better head out, Izzy.”
She frowned. But then a thought gave her momentary hope. “What train do you take, Hunter?”
“I drove here. But I’m staying in Manhattan. I can drop you ladies on the way to my sublet.”
I said, “No, thank you” at the same moment Izzy said, “That’d be great.”
Both looked at me with pouts. I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Traffic should be moving by now anyway.”
The car ride was surprisingly quiet. Izzy put her headphones on in the backseat and fell asleep ten minutes into the ride, probably wiped out from playing basketball with Hunter for so long. Hunter looked lost in thought, and I struggled with my own thoughts as I looked out the window. Namely, while the idea of getting involved with this man was very tempting, I was in no way ready for a relationship. I also needed to keep my focus on the important things—my career and stepdaughter.
As we crossed the bridge back into Manhattan, Hunter broke the comfortable silence. “Your family is great.”
Knowing his mother and brother were deceased, I felt his words in my chest, and it made me appreciate what normally annoys the crap out of me. “Yeah, they are. But don’t tell them I said that.”
Hunter smiled and spoke quietly. “I hope you don’t mind my coming to the game Tuesday night. I played ball in college. She’s really good, and I didn’t know how to say no.”
“No, not at all. It’s really sweet of you.”
After a few more minutes, he said, “Those plans you mentioned having after the game, would those be the same plans Izzy mentioned at dinner that involve a guy named Marcus?”
I nodded. “One and the same.”
“First date?”