same thing you did—that it’s better to let her fall a few times while she’s crawling than have her do it for the first time when she’s running.”
I exhaled, definitely relieved. “Okay, good. So they don’t mind her taking more lessons?”
“Hell, no. Don’t be surprised if they come along one of these days, too.” He grinned. “Nick’s a big fan, and Haley’s been dying to meet this guy I’m dating.”
“Really? They want to meet me?”
“Of course. They always want to meet whoever I’m dating, especially once Dallas meets them. And let’s face it—you’re you. If my office ever finds out we’re dating, they’re all going to want a private signing or something.”
I laughed, some heat rushing into my face. “Yeah, we’ll see.”
Devin chuckled, but then he sobered a bit and held my gaze. “It wasn’t weird for you, was it? Meeting my daughter as…well, as your boyfriend’s daughter, not just a fan?”
“No, no. It…” I chewed thoughtfully on a bite of pizza. “Funny thing is, I thought it would be, but when it actually happened, I was so focused on teaching her to skate, I guess I didn’t really think about it.”
“Huh. So it was kind of a distraction?”
“I guess it was. I forgot to be nervous about it.”
Devin smiled and reached across the table for my hand. “Good. Because she really enjoyed meeting you again, and I loved watching the two of you.”
“Really?”
“Are you kidding?” He squeezed my hand before letting it go. As he picked up his pizza slice again, he said, “It was great. When I wasn’t almost having heart failure whenever she fell.”
I laughed softly. “She didn’t fall that much.”
“No, but it was enough to freak out her father.”
“Okay, maybe.” I arched an eyebrow. “So when are you going to try skating?”
“Hmm, how about penciling me in for the twelfth of never?”
“Oh, come on. You might like it!”
Devin looked dubious as he chewed another bite of pizza.
I nudged his foot under the table. “You won’t know until you try it.”
His lips quirked. “I have to admit, Dallas’s enthusiasm is kind of rubbing off. And it did look fun.”
“Well…” I pulled a green pepper off my pizza slice and popped it in my mouth. “Say when.”
He seemed to consider it for a moment. “Maybe when you’re back in town?”
“You serious?”
Another moment of consideration, then he exhaled. “Why the hell not? Let’s do this.”
Chapter 26
Devin
“I stand by what I said—Dallas is a hell of a lot braver than I am.”
“You’re good.” Jase skated backwards a few feet and beckoned me closer. “Everyone’s nervous their first time on the ice.”
I looked down at my skates and then the ice that I was trying to work up the courage to step out on. Arching an eyebrow, I met his gaze again. “So you’re saying everyone’s nervous their first time, hmm?”
He blushed and laughed. “Just skate.”
Skate. Right. That was why we were here.
“Would you think less of me if I admitted to being really nervous?”
“Not at all.” He came a bit closer and held out a gloved hand. “You’ll be fine. Just go slow.”
“You have to admit, the innuendos kind of write themselves here.” But I reached for his hand, and despite a million nerves, put a skate on the ice. To my surprise, my foot didn’t suddenly shoot out from under me and drop me on my ass. It didn’t feel overly stable, but it was less precarious than I’d anticipated.
Reminding myself that my daughter had done this, and that Jase was giving me support, I carefully added the second foot.
Oh shit. I was ice skating.
Well. Kind of. I wasn’t moving, but I was on top of two skates that were on ice. Ice skating in place? Something like that.
“All right.” I met Jase’s eyes. “Now what?”
He released my hand, but kept his hovering there for a second as if he thought I might grab on again. When I didn’t, he gestured down at his legs. “Okay, so you’re gonna want to bend your knees a bit.” He bent his. “Not so far that you can’t see your toes anymore.”
I did, looking down to make sure I wasn’t overdoing it. As soon as I was positioned properly, a faint burn materialized in my thighs. That subtle warning that my muscles weren’t thrilled about this new exertion. “I’m going to feel this in my quads later, aren’t I?”
“And your ass.”
I arched an eyebrow.
Jase smirked. “We, uh, might want to take it easy tonight.”
“Good call.”
“But while we’re here, you’re gonna skate.”
“Okay.” I