Page 7 of The Dating Ban (Mind the Corbin Brothers #1)

Bendy Yoga Friends

Ivy

I pop a chip in my mouth, chewing thoughtfully as Theo wipes Lucy’s ketchup-covered hands with the efficiency of a man who has done this a thousand times before.

“You are disturbingly good at that,” I say, nodding at Lucy, who is currently squirming but ultimately letting him clean her up.

He raises an eyebrow. “At what? Parenting?”

“At controlling the mess,” I clarify. “If that had been me, the ketchup would have somehow ended up in my hair, on my shirt, and possibly in my shoe.”

Theo smirks. “I’ve had five years of training.”

Lucy beams proudly. “Daddy says I’m very messy.”

I nod solemnly. “You should be. It’s a child’s job to be messy. You’re doing important work.”

She grins before turning back to her plate, clearly satisfied with my answer .

Theo shakes his head, picking up his own fork. “So,” he says, giving me a look, “I’ve spent the last half hour spilling my entire backstory to you. Tell me something about you.”

I freeze mid-bite. “Oh, you don’t want to know about me. Very boring. Nothing to report.”

He gives me a pointed look. “You talk about…” He mouths the word foursomes, “…in public, willingly signed up for three months of not dating, and somehow ended up having dinner with a five-year-old you just met and her rather clueless dad. I highly doubt you’re boring.”

I gasp, placing a hand over my chest in mock surprise. “So you did listen.”

Theo smirks. “Hard not to when someone casually drops… certain topics into conversation while standing three feet away.”

Across the table, Lucy pauses mid-chip, looking between us with open curiosity. “What topics?”

I bite back a laugh. Theo, however, doesn’t look quite as amused.

“Oh, nothing,” I say breezily, stirring my hot chocolate. “Just… very boring adult things.”

Lucy’s nose scrunches up. “Taxes?”

Theo clears his throat, hiding a smirk. “Exactly. Boring adult things. Definitely not worth repeating.”

Lucy hums, narrowing her eyes suspiciously before returning to her food.

I smirk at Theo. “Smooth save.”

He sighs. “I’m starting to think I need to keep a ‘things Ivy should not discuss in my café’ list.”

“Oh, you’re such a delicate flower,” I tease, resting my chin in my hand .

He gives me a dry look. “I’d prefer ‘a man just trying to run a respectable business without innuendo disasters in front of his staff and child.’”

I chuckle, but decide to spare him—for now.

“So,” he says, changing the subject. “Now that I know way too much about you, tell me something normal. Something… child friendly.”

I sigh dramatically. “Fine. Since you’re so desperate for a wholesome fact, I’ll give you the mildest one I have.”

“I’m on the edge of my seat.”

I smirk. “I’m a forty-one-year-old divorcee who can’t cook. Oh, and I’m an urban planner.”

Theo blinks. “Wait—really?”

Which bit is he questioning?

“Yes, definitely can’t cook. I burn water.”

“Water doesn’t burn,” Lucy pipes up through a mouth full of food.

“I meant… you are really an urban planner?” Theo asks.

I nod.

He frowns slightly, like he’s trying to fit this into his mental image of me. “So you… plan London?”

“Well, more like I help design urban spaces, make sure buildings and transport systems work together, and try to stop people from ruining everything with bad infrastructure decisions.”

Theo looks at me like I’ve just told him I secretly run MI5. “That is so much more serious than I expected.”

“Wow,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “What did you expect?”

He hesitates, glancing at Lucy, then lowers his voice slightly. “Honestly? Something a bit… flashier.”

I smirk. “Like what? A job in entertainment? ”

He presses his lips together, clearly suppressing a laugh. “Something… customer-service-adjacent.”

I gasp dramatically. “How dare you.”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “I just can’t picture you in a suit, standing over a giant map, making life-altering decisions about where to put a new bus lane.”

“Oh, I have that power,” I say, tilting my head. “I could personally make your morning commute hell if I wanted to.”

Theo raises an eyebrow. “You’d… adjust transport logistics out of spite?”

“Absolutely.”

“Unfortunately for you, we live just around the corner. No commuting involved. Regardless, remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“Smart man.” I grin, taking a sip of my third hot chocolate this afternoon.

Theo watches me, like he’s still trying to figure me out.

Good luck, mate! I’m still trying to figure me out, too.

Before I can take another sip, Lucy suddenly perks up, eyes wide with excitement.

“Can you build me a playground?” she asks, her little hands gripping the edge of the table.

I blink. “Uh… what?”

Theo sighs, shaking his head. “Ladybug, that’s not how it works.”

“But she plans cities,” Lucy insists, as if I have the power to summon swing sets out of thin air. “She can put a playground here!”

I bite my lip, trying not to laugh at how serious she looks. “It’s a nice idea, Lucy, but I don’t actually get to choose where things go. I mostly work on roads and boring stuff.”

Lucy deflates a little, frowning. “But there’s no playground around here. And the one at Uncle Jasper’s is so good.”

Theo nods. “She’s not wrong. There’s hardly anything for kids within walking distance. My brother lives in a small village in Kent and it has this massive playground. Every time we visit, Lucy acts like it’s Disneyland.”

“It has a zip line,” Lucy adds dramatically.

I chuckle. “Well, I get it. Playgrounds are very important business.”

Lucy nods seriously, like I’ve just validated her entire worldview.

“Sadly,” I continue, “Shoreditch isn’t one of the areas I’m working in, so I can’t sneak in a last-minute swing set.”

Lucy sighs heavily, slumping back in her chair. “That’s so unfair.” She huffs and stabs at a chip, her playground dreams dashed.

“The only thing around here for Lucy is the library—we go there sometimes,” Theo says, running a hand through his hair. “And there’s a yoga class for parents and kids on Mondays in the studio just down the road.”

I blink. “You do yoga?”

He shrugs. “It’s a good way to stretch out. And, you know, not collapse from the stress of running a café.”

I shake my head, processing this new piece of unexpected information. “So let me get this straight. You’re a former lawyer, Viennese coffee house owner, and a yoga dad?”

Theo smirks. “Multifaceted.”

Lucy, still sulking about her lack of a playground, mutters, “He’s very bendy. ”

I burst out laughing.

Theo groans, running a hand down his face. “Thank you for that, Lucy.”

She shrugs, completely unbothered. “It’s true.”

I shake my head, still grinning, but as I reach for my hot chocolate, I remember the actual reason I ended up here in the first place.

“You know,” I say, stirring my drink absentmindedly, “I actually tried yoga today.”

Theo raises an eyebrow. “Tried?”

I sigh dramatically. “I started with Yoga for Dummies, which was already pushing my attention span to its limits, and then I attempted something called a Sun Salutation and ended up in what I can only describe as a human car crash.”

He laughs. “Sounds dramatic.”

“Oh, it was spectacular. There was flailing. There was swearing. At one point, I crashed to the floor.”

Theo looks far too amused. “Crashed?”

“Listen, things happened, Theo. It was traumatic.”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “Sounds like you need proper instruction.”

I roll my eyes. “And where, pray tell, do you suggest I find this proper instruction?”

He smirks. “Well, funny you should ask. Some of us are very bendy and happen to attend a class on Mondays.”

I blink. “Wait. Are you inviting me to kids’ yoga?”

“Parents and kids practice separately,” he points out. “No kids required.”

I hesitate. “I don’t know…”

“Why not?”

“Well, for one, I don’ t have a child.”

He shrugs. “Not an issue if you come with me.”

That… that feels like a loaded statement.

I glance at my nearly empty cup, choosing my words carefully. “I do work on Mondays.”

Theo nods, as if that settles it. “Fair enough.”

I wait for him to push back, to find another argument, but he just takes a sip of his drink like the conversation is already over.

And for some annoying reason, that makes me want to clarify.

“I mean,” I continue, shifting slightly, “I do work, but… I work from home, so technically, I can be flexible with my schedule.”

Theo tilts his head, amusement flickering across his face. “Ah.”

I narrow my eyes. “What?”

“Nothing,” he says, though he’s clearly holding back a smirk. “Just enjoying you arguing with yourself.”

I huff, stabbing a piece of sausage with my fork. “I’m not arguing with myself.”

“You literally just proved your own excuse wrong.”

I open my mouth, then snap it shut because, fuck, he’s right.

To avoid looking at him, I focus on Lucy, who is carefully lining up her chips in a neat row, completely oblivious to my minor crisis.

After a moment, I clear my throat. “When is this yoga class, anyway?”

“Eleven-thirty.”

I do a quick mental calculation. Eleven-thirty isn’t too bad. I could start early, shift a few tasks around, and technically still get a full workday in …

I lean back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. “I might be able to make that work.”

Theo raises an eyebrow. “That sounded dangerously close to a yes.”

I exhale sharply, shaking my head at myself.

Because I do want to go.

I know it. He knows it. Even Lucy—who is now humming to herself while dipping a chip in ketchup—probably knows it.

But there’s still something holding me back.

I fiddle with my fork, staring at the last few chips on my plate, trying to ignore the way my stomach is doing something at the idea of saying yes.

“I shouldn’t really be… going out with a man,” I say finally, though even I can hear how unconvincing I sound. “Because, you know, the ban.”

Theo chuckles. “One day, you’re gonna have to tell me that story.”

I scoff. “Oh, it’s a thrilling one, let me tell you. Full of self-reflection and—”

“Questionable decision-making?” he supplies.

“Exactly,” I say, pointing my fork at him.

He smirks, then he leans forward. “But it’s not a date. Just yoga.”

I exhale, still hesitating.

He leans forward slightly. “Surely you’re allowed to have male friends, Ivy.”

I purse my lips, tapping my fingers against the table. What would Pee-Pee say?

She’d probably ask me why I was so reluctant to do something I clearly wanted to do. She’d probably tell me that just because I’m taking a break from dating, it doesn’t mean I have to shut down every interaction with a man.

And, let’s be honest, she’d definitely tell me that my excuses were getting flimsier by the second.

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “Fine. But only because I don’t want to die doing a Sun Salutation in my living room.”

Theo laughs out loud. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Lucy claps her hands together. “Yay! Daddy’s gonna do the cool poses again!”

I raise an eyebrow. “Oh? No Shaking Warrior pose?”

Lucy shakes her head fervently. “Nope! Daddy’s really good.”

Theo shrugs, looking far too pleased with himself. “I am very bendy.” His voice goes all deep and sultry when he says that and I want to fan myself.

I open my mouth, then shut it, because there is no good way to respond to that.

Instead, I just hide my smirk. “Alright, fine. Monday. Yoga. As friends.”

Theo nods, “Looking forward to it.”

And just like that, I have plans for Monday.