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I nearly swallowed my tongue at Chase’s point-blank question, and my good intentions scattered like blown dust. Clearly, he knew. Jimmy’s expression of stoic acceptance helped me drop my tense shoulders.

“Do you think she’ll like Bayside Seafood?” I asked.

Chase’s smirk had me steeling myself for his response. “I think she likesyou. Wherever you take her will be fine. But Bayside is a good choice. Their oysters are fabulous.” He wiggled his brows as obnoxiously as possible. “Quite the aphrodisiac.”

Jimmy smacked Chase across the chest, grinning when the other man recoiled as if mortally wounded. “Quit talking about aphrodisiacs and my sister.”

“What? I’m not the one who’s dating her.”

Jimmy grunted his disapproval. “Still.”

I peered closely at him, but Jimmy didn’t turn his ire on me.

“Do you think I should tell her about Rosie tonight?” I asked, glancing between their thoughtful expressions. “Assuming she doesn’t already know?”

Jimmy shook his head. “It hasn’t come up, and it’s not my story to tell. That’s all you, man. Besides, I’m still disappointed they didn’t ask me for help.” He gestured to his body, grinning playfully. “I mean, grade-A specimen, right here, and they went withyou? Rosie is beautiful, and I get that you’re family and all, but,c’mon. I would have made a gorgeous baby too.”

Chuckling at his pretend offense, I let his words sink in. Figuring out when to introduce it into conversation and how to explain my relationship with Rosie, Kirsten, and Julie was a little tricky. For me, it had been simple: Julie and her wife wanted a baby and needed a donor. I’d always be Uncle Ty. Always part of Rosie’s life. But some of the women I’d dated looked at me differently after they found out. They either believed it meant I was ready to be a father and wanted to hop on the baby train or that I was a deadbeat dad, letting my sister and her wife raise Rosie. Explaining our family had become complicated. But it wasn’t something I wanted to hide.

“Just tell her,” Chase urged.

I shifted to Jimmy, curious for his advice. His casual shrug didn’t tell me much. “Andi understands about family,” he finally said.

I rolled my shoulders, stretching out my neck.

She’d understand. Andi knew Julie. She’d met Rosie. I used each thought as a brick, shoring up my confidence. If we were meant to be, she’d understand.

***

I’d scheduled a haircut, wanting to look my best for Andi, then stressed the entire time I was in the chair that my barber wouldn’t finish on time, and I’d be late for our date. I rushed home afterward, wanting time to shower and change before picking her up. Speeding through the process hadn’t left me much time to prepare. And by “prepare,” I meant assuage the tension built up from our last text exchange, letting my release relax the tight anticipation no amount of self-pleasure seemed to diminish.

I pulled up in front of her apartment complex and took the stairs two at a time to her door. Sitting outside to make sure her car started wasn’t the same as an invitation inside. I was curious to see how Andi lived. She was all bold prints and bright colors. My sunshine. Would her home be the same? Or would another side of Andi emerge?

I wanted all of her secrets. Worry dimmed my excitement as I paused at her front door. Telling Andi about Rosie was becoming critical. I couldn’t ask for Andi’s confidences if I wasn’t willing to share my own. But something about the admission felt too big, too serious for a playful night out. I’d yearned for this opportunity with Andi. Hadn’t I earned a one-night reprieve, before letting the realities intrude? I wanted it to be impossible for her to walk away, as impossible as it was becoming for me to imagine my life without her. Shoving aside the guilt, I focused instead on her front door.

She answered my knock almost immediately, and I grinned. Maybe I wasn’t the only one eager to spend time together. Focusing first on the soft flush in her cheeks and the welcoming smile on her lush lips, it took me a moment to get the full effect.

Andi was gorgeous. Dressed in a short red dress and tall black boots, her dark hair pulled back from her face and her mouth bright with a matching shade of red, she looked like sin incarnate.

I swallowed down the rising tide of lust and desire to push her back against the wall, hiding it behind a more civilized greeting.

“Hi, Andi. You look beautiful.”

Her pleased smile distracted me from the growing bulge in my trousers, the sparkle in her eyes warming my chest instead.

“You’re pretty handsome there yourself, Hot Stuff.”

My lips twitched at the nickname. It put us on familiar, competitive footing, and I was glad for the evening I had planned. My gaze flashed down to where the red dress flirted with her thighs. I’d decided it was too cold for mini golf. But she hadn’t dressed for go-cart racing. I knew no matter her wardrobe, Andi would rise to the challenge. But I also knew myself. Imagining her sweet red dress fluttering around her thighs as she raced me would keep me on edge all evening, trying to answer the age-old question: what was she wearing underneath?

I coughed, trying to hide the part of me that was ready to rise to the challenge.

“What time is our reservation?”

“Six. We have time to walk along the waterfront first if you won’t be too cold?”

I’d broken down and done the smart thing: asking Andi what sounded good for dinner. Even though I thought I had a decent read on Andi, checking with her seemed like the better bet.

She shrugged into a heavy coat, and I brushed the few tendrils caught under the collar free.