Page 10 of The Perfect Secret
“Is everything okay? You don’t sound like yourself.”
He could tell her mood already? She took a deep breath. “Just some family stuff.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Absolutely not. “Not really.”
“I understand. I called because I wanted to let you to know how much fun I had at lunch today.”
She turned and leaned against the sushi restaurant’s façade. The heavy band around her chest loosened and she smiled. “I did too.”
“Want to do it again sometime?”
“Lunch?”
“Well, I thought something more along the lines of the planetarium at night.”
“Oh, like A Night At The Museum, except without the creepy dinosaurs come to life, hopefully,” she said.
He laughed. “Actually, this place might have aliens. The next show is this weekend.”
He was the father to a teenaged daughter. Regardless of how much she’d enjoyed herself with him, was this wise? She paused. “I’d love to go.”
“Great. How about I pick you up at seven on Saturday, and afterwards we can have a late dinner. And if you change your mind, about talking I mean, I’m around.”
Chapter Four
Dan hung up the call and gripped his phone so hard his knuckles turned white. What had he done? He didn’t know if he was ready to date, or how it would affect Tess—he needed to make a pro and con list—and already he’d made plans to see her again.
The oven timer beeped and he spun around without thought. A shooting pain ran up and down his leg. “Tess,” he called, fighting the urge to curse out loud. “Dinner’s ready.”
He held onto the counter, waited for the throbbing to stop, and counted in silence to keep his mind off of the pain. What he wouldn’t give for a shot of something. Anything. The oven timer continued its incessant beep, adding a beat for his counting to keep up with until the pain subsided.
“Aren’t you going to…oh…” Tess walked into the kitchen. Tossing a glance over her shoulder, she turned off the timer, grabbed an oven mitt, and took the baked chicken out. “Are you okay?”
“Just turned wrong. I’ll be okay in a minute.”
“Want me to get you some ibuprofen?” He shook his head and she continued. “It was worth a try. You look awful.”
“I love you too.” He cleared his throat and tried to make his voice sound normal. “How’s the homework?”
“It’s getting there. I still have Spanish to study for.”
“Want me to test you?”
“I have flash cards on my phone.”
The table was set, and dinner was ready; he hobbled over to join Tess.
“The Abramsons want me to babysit again this Saturday night. I told them I’d check with you but I thought it was okay.”
“Saturday? Uh, yeah, that’s good, in fact.” He served Tess chicken and asparagus.
“You sound weird.”
He laughed. “You’re tactful, you know that?”
She looked away and a blush crept across her cheek. “You sounded weird when you talked about Saturday. Do you not want me to go?”