Chapter Two
Ivy
I watched as he did everything wrong, from patting his son to winking at me every time that I passed by him. I knew that he was a bad boy from the moment my eyes cast over him. He had too many tattoos on his arm and even partly on his back. He was dressed for a night at a bar in his tight dark pants and shirt. He wasn’t in a shirt and tie like some of the dad’s that were on tour. They were dressed as if they were going for a job interview rather than going to see a pre-school.
Chad reminded me of the type of men that I should avoid like the plague. The type of men that I loved to attract and made me end up as a single mom. There was just one problem. I couldn’t get my eyes of his tight ass or his biceps every time he lifted up his son. He was sexy, even though he was completely confused by the trail of events.
“Are we moving already?” He asked as soon as we were shown around the yard. He took the opportunity to sit down on one of the swings, and it would have been a nasty accident not only for him but his son, too.
I couldn’t help but laugh as he caught his son and said, “Fuck!”
More than one mom covered their baby’s ears.
I whispered to him, “Is this your first pre-school?”
He sighed, “Yes, I’m a pre-school virgin. Is it obvious?”
I smiled at him, “Yeah, but it’s my first time, too.”
I’m not a great liar at the best of times, but I can see the guy’s trying with his son. Which is more than can be said for my ex. The other couples are too busy frowning and being snobs about us single parents. Maybe I’ll cut him a deal. If we pretend to be a couple, then maybe both our kids would get into a good pre-school.
We’re given one of the breaks they tend to do on the tours. Sandra, the manager of the pre-school, walked with such pride as she talked about everything in the pre-school. She spoke about the calculus as if she was the one that invented it. My daughter, Hazel, has just managed to sit up and she’s nine months old. I doubt that she would be worrying about the calculus at the moment.
I took this opportunity to grab his hand and ask the question. I wasn’t the most subtle person in the world, so I was worried that I would frighten him and he could drop his baby.
“Hey, what about you and I pretend that we’re a couple?”
“What?”
He said, looking around as if we were in the middle of a crime scene and we were one of the suspects.
“Everyone’s looking at us as if we have the plague or something. Maybe if we stop acting as if we’re single and go with the flow, our kids would have a better chance of getting into a pre-school.”
He turned around again as if he was completely confused about my offer.
“But how do you know that they won’t get in?
I shook my head, “Remember when we came in and we had to fill out the paper work?”
He nodded as if I was talking about weeks ago when I was only referring to twenty minutes ago.
“Yes, I thought that was a bit strange. Why didn’t they make us do it at the end?”
“Exactly, they’re already sizing up who’s in and who’s out.”
He held on to my hand in shock. His fingers were softer than I imagined and his touch was sending shivers down my spine, making me regret my offer. I was supposed to be staying away from bad boys, not getting close to them.
“Yes!”
It was my turn to be the one who needed to keep her cool as I moved my hand away from his. Except, I was acting as if I had the winning ticket for the lottery and all I wanted to do was kiss him. His lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear what was coming out. I was getting too close. Not focused. I needed to get the hell out of here and away from Chad.
“Ivy are you okay? You look kind of pale?”
I was far from okay. The heat was rushing from my face to places it really shouldn’t be going in a pre-school with both our kids in our arms.
I nodded.
“Anyway, sounds like we have to move again. When this is all over, I’ll give you my number. Then, we’ll meet up and come up with a better plan for the next tour.”
Again, I nodded, but I wasn’t looking at his eyes. Face. Legs. Or even his biceps. My eyes were fixated on his butt. His pants were so tight, that all I wanted to do was squeeze his backside. I was having nasty thoughts at the worst place ever and all I wanted to do was leave.
***
“Holy fuck, I thought that tour would never end!” Chad blurted out as we stood by my car. I had hoped that he’d forgotten about our little pact, we were too late to do it at this pre-school, anyway. But, he kept insisting on holding my hand and pretending we were a couple, and when his hand went lower down my back, I didn’t move it. God! This is why I needed to stay the hell away from men like him.
Hot men.
Sexy men.
Men that only wanted to fuck and leave me. That’s why I had Hazel, from a guy that used to call me as his booty call. I studied at Stanford, for crying out loud, and become a lawyer. Then came back to Granbury, Texas the moment that I found out I was pregnant and the only thing that my booty caller wanted was to send me child support. That was our agreement. He would send me child support, as long as I left him alone. That’s the only way I could afford to send Hazel to any pre-school. I didn’t need to work as long as I kept my side of the bargain, which was to make sure that I never asked him for anything else.
I worked because I went to law school and didn’t feel that I could be a full-time mom. I envied women who could do that. I just knew that after six weeks of staying home when Hazel was born, I just wasn’t one of those women. So, I went out and got a job. Sure, I spend most of my time looking at contracts and making sure that the legal elements are in place, but I knew that it was better than being at home.
“Chad, I think I made a mistake. I mean, Joshua’s only six months old Hazel’s nearly ten months. Maybe…,” I could feel him getting closer to me. I should have told him to stop, but he’d already brought the stroller over. Joshua was safely sleeping in it and I was getting closer to his dad.
“Ivy, it’s a good idea. I think we should take them to the park and then we can talk about it properly. What do you say?”
Hell no!
“Sure, here’s my number.”
There was something seriously wrong with me when it came to guys with dark hair and green eyes. I lost all senses when they had tattoos. As I told him my number,I knew this single dad could have me anytime he wanted and it scared me, much more than my booty caller. Chad had me from the moment he said my name. Whereas, my booty caller only had me every time that he dialed my number.