The Single Undead Moms(64)

“All the bad guys on my cartoons have beards like that,” Danny informed him, pointing to the neatly trimmed goatee on Finn’s chin.

“Danny,” I warned quietly, pulling my son’s hands out of biting range. But to my surprise, rather than looking annoyed, Finn snorted and knelt down to Danny’s eye level.

“No, no, it’s true, cartoon villains are partial to facial hair. It’s a scientific fact,” Finn agreed. He extended his hand to Danny. “But you’ll find that in real life, the villains are a little harder to spot. Nice to meet you, Danny. I’m Finn.”

Danny gave Finn’s hand a manly shake. “I’ll be watching you.”

That delighted grin broke across Finn’s face again. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“Why don’t you go start on the downtown section?” I asked Danny, scooting him toward Dick as I stood.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Finn,” Danny said, running toward his favorite vampire.

“What if I shave it off?” Finn called after Danny.

“I’ll still know it’s there!” Danny yelled back, making Finn snicker again.

“Sorry about that,” I said, my lips twitching.

“I can respect a healthy reluctance to trust a strange man with designs on his mom,” Finn said with a shrug. Jane made a disdainful grunting noise, which Finn ignored. “What’s the downtown section?”

“My son is recreating Gotham City. Out of biscotti.”

“No one eats the biscotti,” Andrea muttered.

“Because they’re like cookies, only drier and harder to eat,” I told her.

“Well, this complicates things.” Finn sighed.

I pursed my lips. I had been expecting this. Dating when you had a child was complicated. I hadn’t actually done it yet, what with the deadly disease and all, but even when I had been well and felt strong enough to take off my wedding ring, the moment I mentioned my son to a man who seemed interested in me, I could see the shutters behind his eyes close. I was disappointed that I saw the same from Finn. I’d expected more, somehow, as if he should have better perspective because of his immortality.

“Because after seeing you with your son, now I have to like you as a person, too,” Finn said, as if this was a great burden. “And here I was hoping for a relationship built on chemistry and dimples.”

“Aw.” Andrea sighed. When Jane glared at her, she cleared her throat and said, “Right, back to the coffee bar where it’s safe. Come on, Jane.”

Andrea caught Jane through the crook of her elbow and tried to lift her from her seat. When Jane resisted, Andrea picked up the envelope and waved it in her face. Jane screwed up her face with disgust but allowed Andrea to haul her away.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered, which was pointless, because all of the vampires in the shop were going to hear me regardless of what I did.

“I wanted to see you, and I wanted to make clear to Jane that her embargo wasn’t going to stand. As long as you don’t have a problem with me visiting you, the Council shouldn’t be able to stop that.” At that, the tiny demitasse cup Jane was holding shattered in her hands. We turned to look at her, and she smiled blithely, shuffling the shards of porcelain from her fingers. Finn rolled his eyes and cupped my chin in his hand. “Do you . . . want me to visit you?”

“I don’t know,” I told him.

“Hey, this is an important part of a relationship, right? Awkwardly introducing each other to the lesser-known areas of our lives? How else would I know about your son’s passion for cookie architecture or that your first name is Liberty?” When I groaned, he added, “I saw it on Jane’s paperwork.”

“Is that what this is, a relationship?” I asked.

“I’d like it to be the beginnings of one.”

“Then I think you should know that I’m seeing someone else.”

Finn scoffed. “Yes, your motorcycle enthusiast. I have heard tales. I like my chances on this one.”

I snorted. Of course Finn would see himself as the natural choice over Wade. He wasn’t being snobby or rude. That was just who he was, confident and secure in himself to the end. Part of what made him so charming was what made me want to smack him.

“So, Danny’s father?” Finn asked. When I raised my brows, he added, “I didn’t get a thorough look at your file.”

“Passed a few years ago.”

“It’s not going to be easy on you, you know, taking care of a child on your own,” he said.

“It’s never been easy.”

“But growing up without a father, you know how hard that’s going to be on Danny as well.”