to her before, and I was pretty sure I never would. Maybe it was the same with her mother.
And there was something sexy about her using that demanding voice on me. I usually liked to be in control in the bedroom, but I wouldn’t mind giving her a turn. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with me?
“Ideal girl,” she said. “And go.”
“Hm.” I put my arm on the back of the couch, dangerously close to touching her. “Petite. Red hair…” I stopped talking when her eyes snapped to mine.
“This is all very funny, Matt. For real though. How am I supposed to find the girl of your dreams if all you want to do is mess with me?” She pushed her red hair behind her ear and looked back down at the app downloading on her phone.
I wasn’t joking. She was my ideal girl. But she’d never be mine. I knew that. And yet…I was sitting here like an idiot anyway. “You promise this stays between us?” I asked. For some reason, I wanted this whole dating app thing to be a secret. I knew she’d already agreed. But I needed to know for real.
“I promise. It can be our little secret. Now describe your ideal girl.”
“I don’t know. Hot. Nice.”
She laughed. “Hot and nice? Did you think I was going to set you up with a mean uggo?”
Honestly I had no idea who she was planning on setting me up with. Because it didn’t seem like she had any idea what she was doing.
“You know what, let’s circle back to that vague answer later. I need some of your hobbies and interests right now.” She started typing in the app. “And by hobbies, I mean things besides sleeping with random girls with huge boobs. Actually, now that I mention it, I do know your type.”
I laughed. “That’s not my type.”
“Then what is?”
“I already told you. Petite redheads.” I winked at her.
She grabbed a pillow and threw it at me. “You’re incorrigible.”
I easily caught the pillow before it smacked me in the face. I liked when she was feisty. “Hobbies, huh? Well…” my voice trailed off as I thought about it. “I like to work.”
She shook her head and typed something into her phone. “I need more than just what you do for work. Tell me something you do for fun. Other than being the best babysitter in town.”
I smiled. I was a pretty badass babysitter for her kids. Rob’s too. But I didn’t really know what else she wanted me to say. “I like to work out.”
“Work and work out? Do you have any hobbies that don’t involve the word ‘work’?”
“I’m the head coach for the Empire High football team. It’s a volunteer thing, so you can’t say that’s work.”
She lifted her head and stared at me. “How did I not know that?”
“You never asked.”
“You sit in our living room every Sunday watching the Giants. You never thought to mention you were a volunteer football coach at your old high school?”
I shrugged.
“Interesting.” She typed something into her phone. “That’s actually really good. I can work with that. Smile for me.”
“What?”
She snapped a picture of me with her phone with my mouth open in mid-question. She looked at the picture and smiled. “Perfect,” she said.
“Are you using that as my profile picture?”
“Yup, it’ll do.”
“Let me see it.” I reached out for the phone.
She laughed and pulled it away. “No, it’s fine, I swear.”
I tried to reach around her, sandwiching her between me and the couch. “You’re sabotaging me.”
“I’m not sabotaging you!” she said with a laugh, trying to squirm away from me. She pushed on my chest to try to shove me away.
And for just a second, I let myself relish the fact that I was on top of her. On the couch. Just like I’d pictured countless times in my head. I could smell the scent of her floral shampoo. It swirled around me, drawing me closer. Her lips were only a few inches away from mine.
The front door clicked opened and I jumped off the couch. It was one thing to dream about kissing Penny. It was another to actually do it. Especially right in front of James. I could bench press more than him, but James had always been a good fighter. I wasn’t sure I’d win that fight.
But it wasn’t James coming through the front door.
“Uncle Matt! Uncle Matt!” Scarlett darted right past her mother and jumped into my arms.