“So, what about that over there?”

I pointed to a boat about two hundred feet from us, and Hunter narrowed his eyes and gazed at it for a moment, trying to place it.

“I don’t know that one,” he confessed. “But I’ll look it up and find out and tell you at school.”

“You do that,” I agreed, and I fought the urge to ruffle his cute little head.

“Hey, Hunter, mind if I borrow Autumn for a minute?”

I turned around to find Holden approaching us, a glass of wine in his hand for me. I raised my eyebrows as he handed it to me, and I took a long sip.

“Mmm, that’s good,” I sighed, as Hunter vanished back into the cabin to give us some space. Probably to look up the name of the ship so he could impress me.

“So, how are you liking it?” he asked, coming to lean on the railing close to me. I was so distinctly aware of how near he was to me right now that I could have shifted and pressed myself against him, and I pushed it to the back of my mind. Useful thoughts only, please.

“Uh, yeah, it’s really cool.” I nodded, but he cocked an eyebrow, and I could tell that I was hardly convincing him.

“It’s not that bad, is it?” he asked. It was obvious he was trying to keep a game face on, but I had seen how disappointed he had seemed when I hadn’t been super-impressed with the yacht as soon as we got on it. It wasn’t that it wasn’t cool. It was incredible that somebody I actually knew was part of the super-rich club to the point that they had their own luxury yacht. But there was something about it that made me a little uncomfortable. It was so conspicuous, like he was making a point about his cash and flashing it around every chance he got.

“No, not at all.” I shook my head. “It’s very neat, it is. And the fact that you can sail it even more so. But… this wasn’t where you were thinking of bringing the women I set you up with on your first dates, was it?”

“It had crossed my mind.” He shrugged, furrowing his brow. I took another sip of the wine, letting the flavor linger on my tongue for a moment before I swallowed. It was good wine, expensive, but then that probably went with the territory, right?

“You don’t think that’s a good idea?” he prompted me, and I shook my head.

“I think it’s a little much,” I told him gently. “It feels like you’re trying to compensate for something. Or that you think they’re just in it for the money.”

“I guess you’re right.” He shook his head. “I haven’t been dating for so long, it’s easy to forget how things come across.”

“I mean, some women would go for it,” I corrected myself. “But I’m not sure they’re the kind of women you’d want long-term.”

“Gold diggers, you mean?” he replied bluntly.

“I guess that’s one word for it.”

“So what do you think would make a good first date?” he asked, turning to me with interest. “Like you. What would your perfect first date be?”

“Wow.” I raised my eyebrows. “I’ve never given it that much thought.”

“Don’t overthink it,” he encouraged me. “Just the first things that come to your mind.”

“I think it would for sure have an outdoorsy feel,” I began slowly. “Maybe a picnic or something. Oh, and I would love for them to take me somewhere I had never been before—somewhere like a park or a museum or both. Something they were passionate about, somewhere they loved and wanted to share with me. I think that would be sweet.”

“That sounds nice,” he said. “What else?”

“Hmm.” I tipped my head back and let the breeze rush over me. “I think the main thing would be making me comfortable. If they could make me feel at ease wherever they took me, I would be happy with that. Oh, and I don’t like it when the guys I date are dicks about me wanting to split the bill. I like to pay my way, and I hate it when they wave me off like I couldn’t possibly afford it.”

“Guys really do that?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah,” I grinned and shook my head. “Like you wouldn’t believe. It drives me up the wall.”

I fell silent again, the wine settling into my system as I gave the question a bit more thought.

“But I think I’d want someone who was there for me, you know?” I emphasized the word. “Not because he thought this is how dating should work or because he thought this specific thing would be enough to impress me. Who listened to me and actually gave a shit what I wanted. I wouldn’t mind as long as that was part of it.”

“Makes sense,” he agreed. “Is it that hard to find someone out there who’ll actually listen to you?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” I held my hands up. “Don’t get me started, seriously. Over the last few years, I’ve had so many dates where I’m pretty sure they didn’t listen to a word coming out of my mouth the whole evening. I’m trying to make sure you don’t have to go through the same thing.”

“Well, I appreciate your effort.” He touched his glass of sparkling water to mine and smiled, and I felt that flicker—a flutter, even—in my chest once more. I shoved it down. He was only getting advice, not coming on to me. If he’d wanted to romance me, he wouldn’t have brought his son along with us for the whole day.

Hunter returned, and he pointed to the boat I had been asking him about earlier.

“It’s a runabout,” he told me excitedly, and I nodded to him, glad to have something to distract me from the mess of thoughts running around my head at that very moment.

“Wow, I never would have known that.” I cocked my head at him. “Anything else you can name for me?”

And with that, the rest of the day passed pretty well. I had a good time with Hunter, and it was seriously sweet to see him and Holden interacting with such clear affection and kindness. There was no doubt in my mind that Hunter clearly adored his father, and his dad felt the same way about him. Eventually, Holden took us back to shore, and we hopped back in the car to head home. Hunter passed out in the back seat nearly at once, snoring softly, and I grinned as I glanced at him in the mirror.

“He’s always tired after I take him out on a day like this,” Holden explained quietly. “All the sea air, I think. It suits him. He always likes going out on the water for a while.”

“Well, I can see how keen he is on it. Good to see him so passionate about something.”

“It really is,” Holden agreed, and the two of us chatted about his boat and the trips that he and Hunter had taken on it the last few years until we got back to the house. The drive seemed to go so quickly, and I found myself wishing it could have lasted a little bit longer.

“I guess I should get going,” I remarked, as Hunter stirred in the back seat and waved goodbye to me as he headed into the house.

“I guess so,” Holden agreed, and he got out of the car and opened my door for me. He was such a gentleman, and I felt my heart flutter as I brushed by him to stand up.

“Well, thanks for an amazing day,” I told him after I had called my cab. And, as I stood there, leaning on his car and looking at him, I found something stirring in me—the way he was looking at me, the softness in his eyes, like he was a second away from leaning in toward me and planting a kiss on my lips. What surprised me was that I wanted him to. Badly. He inhaled deeply, and his gaze flicked briefly down to my mouth, and I knew I had to do something to break the tension before one of us did something we couldn’t come back from.

“I’ll see you soon?” I stuck my hand out to him awkwardly, and he glanced down at it with surprise, as though he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Then it seemed to click, and he shook my hand firmly, gripping tight, like he wasn’t sure he wanted me to let go.

“You sure will,” he agreed. “Call me, all right? We’ll organize something again soon.”

“I can’t wait.” I smiled at him and realized I was still holding his hand. I dropped it swiftly, ignoring the warmth of his skin against mine, how nice it had felt. I heard the engine of the cab approaching, and I turned to flag it down.

“See you later,” I called to him as I slipped into the car, and he closed the door for me, waving through the window before I pulled away. I leaned my head against the cool glass and tried to calm the mess of thoughts running through my head.

I hadn’t wanted him to kiss me. I had just wanted to be kissed, period. That was all it was. I hadn’t been with anyone for a long time, and I was craving the physical affection. Because Holden was a new arrival in my life, I had just shifted my attention to him, but there was nothing to come of it, nothing to happen because of it.

Even though I had told him I would see him again soon, I wasn’t going to wait too long before I met up with him again. I stared out the window at the street whipping by me and wondered if I should pull back a little and, even if that’s what I should do, if there was any chance at all that I would.