“Okay,” I say as I huff out a relieved breath followed by a smile. “Can we hug it out now? Then I’m going to call Roman.”

Brian laughs again and wraps me in an embrace. Standing on my tiptoes to accept it, I see Georgia watching us with her hand over her mouth, head tilted, her eyes shining with emotion. She’s as moved by this father-daughter moment as I am.

Which brings to mind…

I pull away from Brian and look to him, then to Georgia, and back to him. “You two clearly had talked about me before you came here. What’s up with that?”

“Oh, that,” Georgia says as she walks over and loops her arm through Brian’s. “We had our first date today, and I think it was marvelous. So good, in fact, I feel comfortable eating tabbouleh on our next date.”

Wait! What?

Before I can even process that, Georgia pats Brian’s arm and turns to look up at him. “And when might that next date occur?”

Brian looks down at Georgia and grins at her. “I’m thinking dinner…tonight. You game?”

“Oh baby,” she says with a purr. “You have no idea.”

And…this just got weird. “O-k-a-a-a-y,” I say slowly as I back away from the weirdness toward the door. “I’m just going to leave you two alone to kiss it out or something.”

“I don’t kiss on the first date,” Georgia says primly as I open the door with a backward reach of my hand. Then her eyes practically glow with wickedness as she winks at me. “But I’m totally open to at least second base thereafter.”

“Ugh,” I say dramatically as I clap my hands over my ears. “Don’t ever say that stuff in front of me again.”

Brian’s lips press into an amused smile as he watches me walk backward out of the office, my hands still secure against my ears to muffle any sound. And when I’m clear and can shoot a hand out to pull the door closed behind me, I watch as Brian turns to Georgia and, sadly, I hear him say, “Second base, huh?”

I pull the door shut fast and it slams loudly, cutting out any further naughty flirting between my dad and Georgia. But then I put them out of my mind as I dig my phone out of my pocket and pull up Roman’s number.

My heart beats madly as the phone rings, but I’m disappointed to get his voicemail. It’s simple and adorable in his light Czech accent. “Sýkora. Talk to me.” Then a long pause. “Or don’t. I don’t care which, but I suspect you do.”

I smile as I wait for the tone, then leave a somewhat breathless if not confusing message. “Um…hey…it’s Lexi, but you probably know that because of caller ID and all that, but anyway…I just had the most amazing conversation with Brian and he may have pointed out I was a fool to stop seeing you, which is weird, right? But anyway, I want to know if you’re still interested in a goofy, ukulele-playing girl who works at a coffee shop. Or have I so thoroughly wounded your ego that you’re not willing to give me a second chance. If it’s the first, call me back. If it’s the second, throw the bag I left at your house onto the front lawn and text me when it’s ready. I’ll come by and pick it up. Okay, that’s it. I really hope it’s the first. Call me and I’ll play the ukulele just for you.”

I grin as I disconnect the call. I don’t know Roman well, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that he’ll be charmed by that message and I’ll be hearing from him sooner rather than later.

Chapter 15

Roman

I open my front door before Lexi’s foot hits the bottom step of my porch, as I’d been watching for her car to pull into my driveway. She looks up at me with her right hand holding her ukulele by its neck.

“I’m prepared to serenade you if necessary,” she quips with a smile as she holds it up for me to see.

“Now why would that be necessary?” I ask her as I step out onto the porch and cross my arms over my chest.

“Well, because the text you sent me in response to my voicemail was very cryptic.” She steps up fully onto the bottom step and waits for my move.

And damn, she looks cute as hell in black leggings, black ankle boots with shaggy fake fur around the edges, and an oversized dark purple sweater that hangs off one shoulder.

It’s cold as hell outside, so I ask as I frown down at her, “Where’s your coat?”

“Figured I didn’t need it,” she replies as she stares at me. “I’d either jump out of my car and grab my bag from your front lawn, or I’d be warm inside your house.”

“Hmmmm,” I say in contemplation.

“And yet here I am, freezing my ass off on your front porch,” she points out sweetly.

“You’re not quite on the porch yet,” I counter. “But how about getting that ass up here and rectifying it.”

“So I’m invited in?” she asks coyly.

“You’re invited to the top of my porch,” I say sternly, although my lips are curving to indicate I find her adorable.

“Well, in that case,” she exclaims with excitement as she bounds up the three steps, coming to a hopping stop right in front of me. “Here I am.”

Shaking my head, I offer an amused smile and murmur, “I don’t know whether to kiss you or spank you.”

Her eyes flash hot and her quick reaction to my suggestion of a spanking causes my body to tighten all over. I almost groan out loud when she cocks her head and asks, “Is spanking a serious option?”

I mutter a curse word in Czech under my breath, which she finds hilarious as evidenced by her giggle. Curling my hand around the back of her neck, I merely turn and push her toward my open door, releasing my hold on her as she steps inside.

She turns to face me in my foyer, her ukulele in one hand and a soft expression on her face. “I’m really sorry, Roman. That I reacted so hastily to Gray’s advice to stay away from you.”

And fuck if that doesn’t get me somewhere right in the center of my chest. I’ve had reason for people to apologize to me in the past for whatever reason, but I’ve never had those words leveled at me with such sincerity before.

“What did Brian say that made you come to your senses?” I ask, because her voicemail said he was the reason she was reaching out to me. I had been at practice and had missed her call, but I was grinning from ear to ear in the locker room when I’d listened to it. I didn’t call her back, but sent her—as she noted—a cryptic text that simply said, Come by around 6 P.M. and you’ll find out.