Page 15 of The Summer We Made Promises (The Destin Diaries #3)

Roman’s expression slid into a smile that Lacey bet had stopped a few hearts. Hers might have even fluttered a bit.

“Yeah, man. He’s right.” He leaned back and looked at a boy about ten years old, pointing right at the child. “Go, Jags, buddy.”

“Can you…” The man made a gesture of writing.

“Sure, sure.” He waved the kid over. “Come on.”

Instantly, the boy was up, scrambling over with a pen and paper napkin. “Hi,” he said shyly.

“What’s your name, big guy?”

“Tyler.”

“You play football, Tyler?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not very good.”

“Neither am I or I’d be first string,” he joked, taking the pen and scribbling his name and #14 next to it. “Don’t give up,” he added. “Some of us are just late bloomers.”

“Thanks. Thank you.” The boy beamed at the autograph. “Roman Matteo. Wow. This is so cool!”

His father nodded and backed away. “Thank you, Mr. Matteo. Sorry to bother you.”

“Not at all.” Roman gave an easy wave. “It’s all good, man.”

The other man slowed his step. “You should be first string.”

Roman laughed, revealing a set of teeth that would make an orthodontist cry with envy. “Tell the coach.”

Then he turned back to Lacey, the interaction leaving a spark in eyes so much like Tessa’s, it took her breath away. “Sorry about that.”

“No, no. You’re so nice. That was really sweet of you.”

He looked hard at her for a moment, the gaze intense enough for her to wonder just what he could be thinking.

“I want to meet her,” he finally said.

She dropped back against the leather. “I don’t know…I’d have to tell her or ask her and…I don’t know.”

“Well, what did you expect would happen when you contacted me?” The question sounded like a tease, but he had every right to ask that.

She shrugged. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure. I wanted to know who you are and if you are happy and good and living a nice life. I wanted to know if…you’re like her.”

“Am I?”

“Carbon copy,” she said. “Just the twenty-five-year-old male version.”

He dropped his head back with a groan. “Now I really want to meet her. Can I?”

The food came and saved her from answering, but Lacey’s mind spun out of control.

What would Tessa say? Would she be mad and betrayed? Or overjoyed and relieved? Would meeting him end Lacey’s relationship with that amazing woman, or launch a new, even closer one?

“I took a risk,” Lacey confessed as she picked up her fork but merely stared at the omelet. “I kind of moved on instinct and speed.”

“That’s the only way to live.” He lifted a piece of bacon, pointing it toward her. “So, what’s on the line? What did you risk, exactly?”

She set her fork down to explain. “Tessa has been like another mother to me,” she said.

“I was kind of lost professionally and from the moment we met, she took me under her wing and is teaching me her business. We’ve formed a great bond and she’s always joking she wants to steal me from my mom.

We’re close and connected, and she trusted me with this very deep secret that no one else knows. ”

He took a bite of the bacon, thinking as he looked at her. “And that’s why she told you? Your bond? Maybe she was throwing out a lifeline and hoping you’d do exactly what you’ve done—find me.”

She considered that, and discarded the possibility. If Tessa wanted to meet him, she could have figured out how. “Actually, she didn’t tell me. I guessed it.”

“How?”

“She has this expression she wears whenever someone tells her what a great mother she would have been,” Lacey said, thinking about the many times she’d seen that look on Tessa’s face.

“It’s like…regret and sadness and longing and disappointment and acceptance all rolled into one.

One day, she said something—I don’t remember what—and I saw that look and I blurted out the question, asking if she’d ever had a child. ”

He stared at her, silent.

“She admitted that she had, and recited the day and time and place you were born, with a birth weight, length, and just enough details to make it so, so real. I gave it a week or two, but couldn’t stop thinking about it.

About…you. So I decided to try and call the hospital and see if I could suss anything from their medical records. I got a chatty lady and?—”

“They told you?” He seemed surprised—almost as if he’d done the same kind of search and didn’t have any luck.

“The woman slipped up and said your last name and mentioned a pediatrician in Satellite Beach. I did some digging and it wasn’t that hard to find you.”

He exhaled. “Wow. Resourceful. But how did you know I was the right kid?”

“I looked you up, found a picture and…”

“Saw the resemblance?” he guessed.

She nodded. “It’s strong. Your eyes, mostly. You just have an air about you that’s like her.”

He dropped his elbows on the table and looked at her. “Would she recognize me instantly?”

“If she knew who you were, yes.”

“What if she didn’t?” he asked.

“Then I don’t think she’d see it. I mean, if she isn’t looking for it, probably not. Honestly, I don’t know.”

“What if I could find some reason to go to Destin and kind of get to know her…without telling her the truth and breaking your promise to her?”

She pressed her hand on her chest. “I’m not sure I could handle that kind of subterfuge. I almost had a heart attack when she walked in and caught me looking you up on Instagram. I dropped my phone and she looked right at you.”

“But no recognition?” he asked.

Shaking her head, she smiled. “No. But I had to lie and I hate that. I really, really hate lying.”

“What did you tell her?”

She felt a flush rise as she recalled the exchange. “I said I was on a dating app and…you know.”

“Oh?” He chuckled. “Way to think fast, Lacey. I like that.”

“It was awful,” she told him. “She stared at you and saw your name. Her own…son.”

“What did she say?”

“That you’re cute.”

He smirked and pressed his finger into his cheek and twisted an imaginary dimple. Then his smile faded. “Well, I guess we have a solution to the dilemma, then.”

Her fork froze midway to her mouth. She was not following at all. “We do?”

“I can meet her as your new, uh, boyfriend. Or Tinder date. Or whatever you call it.”

The blood whooshed out of her head, leaving her a little dizzy. “ Excuse me ?”

“Timing’s perfect,” he said as casually as if they were discussing the weather.

“I’m free until training starts in Jacksonville.

I’m just chilling in Satellite Beach with my parents for the off-season.

Which is sad, I know, but they basically live in heaven and I love hanging with them.

I can easily find a rental. And I can meet Tessa, get to know her, and?—”

“No!”

He flinched at her vehement reaction. “Why not?”

“Because it’s totally dishonest,” she said. “I can’t tell her or anyone that! And, please, who would believe that you, an autograph-giving celebrity athlete, would be on the apps and want me ?”

Tipping his head, he looked dismayed. “Why not? You’re a doll.”

A doll ? She wasn’t sure how she should take that, but the butterflies in her stomach certainly liked it.

“I mean, I’d love to go out with you,” he added. “Assuming you really are single.”

“I am.”

“So am I,” he said, leaning in over the table. “Let’s date.”

She searched his face, speechless and lightheaded. “I can’t lie like that. I’ve already broken a promise, but that would be a complete betrayal.”

“Not if we’re really dating.” A half-smile lifted the corner of his lips. “We’ll just make it real. Then you’ll be telling the truth.”

“You’re crazy.” She pointed at him. “Out of your ever-lovin’ mind. Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Completely?—”

He put a hand over her pointed finger and lowered it to the table, his palm just rough enough to be incredibly masculine, his touch light enough to make her whole body react. But it was the look in his eyes that nearly did her in.

“I want to meet her,” he said. “I don’t want you to ruin your relationship with her, I don’t want to totally upset her apple cart, and I don’t want either of us to lie.”

“Well, you’ll…” She tried to think straight, but it was hard. Impossible, actually. “You’ll have to think of some other ruse. I’m not going to be part of it.”

“It’s not a ruse .” He pressed her hand. “We met on an app, went on a lunch date, fell hard for each other, and I decided to spend the rest of my off-season in Destin to see where this might go. And, of course, I’ll meet your friend and boss.”

“And then what?” she asked, shaking her head at this outrageous scenario.

“Then…I’ve satisfied my curiosity. I’ll go back to playing ball, but instead of wondering, I’ll know who gave me life. We don’t have to tell her or my parents, you save face, and I get my answers.” He finally lifted his hand after he’d basically seared her down to her DNA. “Good idea, huh?”

She tried to breathe, but it wasn’t easy. “It’s…”

“I know, crazy, Cocoa Puffs, whatever. But deep down, you know it’s genius.” He grinned at her. “I bet Tessa would love it.”

She’d love it if she wasn’t on the receiving end of complete and total duplicity.

“I don’t think so,” she said, glancing at her watch, aching to leave and think and then think some more. “I’m going to slip out, okay?” She picked up her bag and opened it to find her wallet, but he held out his hand.

“I’ve got it. Can you DM me your number? An address? I’ll look for a place?—”

“Let me think,” she said, slipping out of the booth. “I’ll…talk to you.”

She darted out on shaky legs, stepping into the sunshine and practically colliding with a tourist.

“’Scuze me,” she muttered, looking left and right to get her bearings. After a second, she started walking toward the beach, not sure where she was going or why.

How did she get herself into this? Date him? Well, yeah, in another life and for another reason, it would be an absolute dream. Guys like Roman Matteo came along exactly…never.

But to deceive Tessa? And her mother, grandmother, and every other Lawson or Wylie floating around the Summer House? It would be too much.

She hustled toward a wide-open town square, all grass leading to a wooden boardwalk high on a dune. She needed to see the water, to soak in the sun, and think about?—

“Lacey!”

Oh, God. He’d followed her.

“Lacey.”

She turned slowly, hissing a soft breath as he strolled across the grass toward her, a tall, golden, gorgeous lunatic in a tight gray T-shirt and faded shorts. His hair fluttered in the breeze and his smile grew with each step.

He oozed confidence and playfulness and sincerity and warmth and, oh, man, he was Tessa.

She stood stone still, brushing back some hair the Gulf breeze blew over her face. He reached her in ten seconds. Of course. He was a wide receiver. He ran and caught long shots for a living.

Without a word, he extended his arms, wrapped her in a hug, and pulled her straight into a chest of granite.

She looked up at him, lost for a moment, dizzy and confused and…warm.

“I don’t know your last name,” he muttered.

“Knight.”

“Lacey Knight.” He squeezed her tighter. “Be my girlfriend, Lacey Knight.”

“Roman, I ca?—”

He put one finger under her chin and lifted her face a centimeter closer, the gesture sending a bolt of electricity right down to her toes. It was fake, of course, a game of pretend that would end before it could get too real. But right then, it felt…kind of real.

“Please,” he whispered. “You won’t regret it.”

Something told her she very much would. But all she could do was sigh and accept defeat.