Page 9 of Living for Truth (Broken Shelves #2)

Morgan

I hold my breath as I wait for Hannah to respond.

I’m not lying, per se. I do want to be friends. But I also want so much more. When I saw her walk into the dining room, I swear the whole restaurant faded away, and it was just her and me.

A goddess gracing me—a mere mortal—with her presence.

Am I being dramatic? Absolutely. I’ve always been one for theatrics. But the fact the two women I haven’t stopped thinking about are the same person? That’s got to be fate.

Hannah chews her plush bottom lip anxiously as she considers my spiel. God, what I wouldn’t do to be able to reach across the table and hold her hand, to touch her somehow.

“I think I’d like to be friends. If that’s okay?” Her full cheeks blush again, and I’m dying to feel their heat under my palm.

But I will take the gift she’s given me and be friends.

I can definitely be just friends with my dream girl.

Pull yourself together, man. You just met her.

“I would love nothing more.” My smile is genuine, though I feel a little like I’ve been sacked on the field.

“Now, down to important business. Since I’ve been here before, I’m more than happy to order what I think is best if you don’t want to make a decision about food.

And since I asked you to come, I will be paying, and I will not take no for an answer. ”

Hannah rolls her eyes. “Fine, but next time we hang out, I’m paying. Go ahead and order, I don’t know what to choose.”

“Whatever the lady wants.” I don’t think I could smile wider if I tried. She’s already thinking about the next time we’ll hang out! This bodes well for my plan to win her trust and, hopefully, her heart. “Do you have any allergies or preferences?”

“No allergies. I’m not a fan of fish, but that’s the only thing I can think of.”

“Perfect, I know just what to get then.”

Cody comes back with our coffees and our baby pancakes with a bunch of different toppings, and Hannah’s eyes light up with interest. They look absolutely delicious.

Almost as delicious as the woman across from me.

No! Friends don’t think like that.

“Alright, have we decided what to have for the main course?” Cody asks, a notepad in hand.

“We’re going to have the eggs cochon, the steak gorgonzola flatbread, and two cinnamon rolls, please. We’ll be splitting all of it, so if we could have some empty plates that would be great.”

“Fantastic!” Cody clicks his pen and takes our menus. “It should be out soon. Enjoy the Dutch babies.”

“Thank you,” Hannah says politely. I push the plate of pancakes over to her, and she hesitantly takes one and fills it with some raspberries, blueberries, and a dollop of whipped cream.

She takes a bite, humming happily as the flavors melt on her tongue. “That’s really good. The pancake is soft on the inside but crisp on the outside, and the sweetness from the whipped cream balances the tart from the berries.”

“Yeah, they’re one of my favorites,” I say absently as I watch her little pink tongue dart out and lick a falling drop of whipped cream.

This whole “being just friends” thing is going to be extremely difficult if I can’t even watch her eat a fucking pancake without getting turned on. I feel like a pervert.

“So,” her melodic voice brings me back to the present, “how did you get a reservation on such short notice?”

“My friend Charlie is the manager here. We dated for like a week, but it was an amicable break up, and he said whenever I need a reservation, to give him a call.”

“Oh, well, that’s cool. Do you…” she trails off before shaking her head—something I’ve noticed she does a lot, like she’s censoring herself—and continuing, “So you come here a lot?”

It takes everything in me not to smirk because I think my new friend might be jealous. “Not very often, but it’s Alyssa’s favorite place, so we try to come once every few months on dates.”

Hannah freezes, and I realize my mistake immediately. I haven’t told her about my daughter, so I can only imagine what she’s thinking.

“Alyssa is my nine-year-old daughter. I take her on dates pretty often to show her how she should be treated when she starts dating. Plus, it gives us time to spend together and catch up outside of the monotony of our everyday life.”

Hannah’s shoulders sag in what I imagine is relief. “Oh. That’s actually really sweet. She’s one lucky girl.”

“Are you upset I never mentioned her before?” I don’t think she is, but I want to make sure.

She shakes her head. “No, not at all. I was just worried you were married or something. It doesn’t change how I see you, other than I get to add ‘good dad’ to the list of characteristics I like.” She takes a sip of her coffee. “Wait. If she’s nine, how old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Not at all. I’m thirty-six.” Which has me wondering, “How old are you?”

Hannah’s cheeks pink again. “I’m twenty-six, almost twenty-seven.”

I blink. “When did you get married?”

“At eighteen. Four months out of high school. He was in the single young adult ward I went to after graduation, and it was a whirlwind romance, I guess.” She shrugs like that’s normal. Which, I guess, in Utah it probably is.

“You don’t want to be friends with a twenty-six-year-old divorcée anymore, do you?” she tries to joke, but it lands flat.

Of–fucking–course I still want to be friends with her! Well, more than friends, but friends for now until she knows she can trust me and she understands I won’t break her heart. It’s not like she’s sixteen, and I’m twenty-six—that would be creepy as hell. We’re both well into adulthood.

“I’m still excited as fuck to be your friend, Hannah. I personally think age is just a number past a certain point in your life, and since both of our prefrontal cortexes are fully developed, I don’t see why we can’t be friends. Unless you’re freaked out by me being a single dad?”

“No, it doesn’t bother me. It actually makes me like you more.” Her smile is soft but genuine, and it makes my stomach flutter. I’m glad revealing I’m a single dad didn’t scare her away.

Cody brings our food, and we eat while we talk. I hoard every new piece of information she gives like they’re gems, and I’m a dragon. I hang on every single word that comes out of her exquisite mouth, and by the end of brunch, I’m certain of one thing.

Hannah is my future, and I’ll wait as long as I have to for her to see that.