Page 75 of Fierce-Colson

“See, you can’t do anything if I’m around.”

He held his hand up. “That’s not true. It just fell that way. I was home by ten and watching a movie.”

He didn’t know why he felt the need to add that part. “So, just one date?”

“No. We had lunch on Tuesday and coffee today before work. Her schedule is worse than mine, so finding time isn’t easy. It has nothing to do with you. But we talked about wanting to see each other this weekend.”

“Can she go with us? Is that what you’re thinking? I want to meet her. What’s her name? Who is it?”

His eyes were almost bugging out of his head with the rapid-fire questions. “Slow down there. If you’re okay with it, I’ll see if she can go and she and I will walk a decent distance away giving you girls some space but keeping you in sight.”

“That’s better than Tiff’s parents would do.”

“I remember what it’s like to want some space,” he said.

And maybe because Bella wasn’t his child. He didn’t hold her as an infant. Stress and worry over teething and sleepless nights, have all those fears for years when she couldn’t speak and he had to guess what her cries might mean.

That could make it a bit easier for him to give her some rope.

Because he knew she was mature and responsible for her age.

“Call her now and ask,” Bella said. “Oh, wait, what’s her name?”

This was where it might get tricky, but he couldn’t lie. Once he said it, she might catch on quickly.

“Marly Conway. She’s the DA for Durham County.”

“So, an attorney?” Bella asked.

“Yes.” He held her stare, waiting for her to put things together.

“Regan’s last name is Conway now.”

“It is. She is Marly’s sister-in-law. And before you say anything, Regan hasn’t said a word to Marly about you or I talking to her. She can’t do that. It’s against the rules of her profession. But I mentioned it to Marly because it was hard not to. What is said in your sessions is between you and Regan only, but I don’t want anyone to feel awkward either.”

“I don’t care,” Bella said. “Regan is cool. I like her.”

“I like her too. And her husband, Zander. I knew him when he was on the police force the same time as me. Marly’s father was a captain at the police department and, though I didn’t work for him, I worked with him at times. As I said, I dated Marly a long, long time ago.”

“For how long?”

“Almost two years. But we were young and back then, it was about fun more than anything else.”

“And now it’s more? Why can’t it be about fun also?”

“It’s that too. Both of those things. And she might enjoy walking for the day.”

“Did you plan on telling me about her? I mean if I didn’t bring up everything else?”

“I did,” he said. “I was trying to find the right way to do it and this fell into place smoothly. In a number of ways. It also proves that though my life has changed, I’m still doing things.”

“Yeah, like this is only the second time you’ve talked about a woman with me.”

“Because most of those other dates I went on were just dates and nothing serious.”

“So this is serious?”

Now they were getting into a position he wasn’t comfortable talking about.