Begging and Pleading

Harry

I hesitated. I didn’t want to just come out and agree so quickly because that would be tantamount to agreeing that what she had done was a good idea. But she had a point. I had been off the market for such a long time, and it wasn’t doing me any good to be cooped up in the house alone all the time. I would have to get back out there eventually, one way or another. Maybe this was a blessing. I was never going to do it myself, so perhaps Yara putting in the effort was how I could get back into it.

I had dated before what had happened, of course. Quite a bit actually. But I had never found anyone who had actually made me want to settle down. Most of the women I met had this edge to them, like there was something on their mind other than just spending time with me. I soon came to figure out that it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the family name that I was attached to.

They took one look at that, and dollar signs started pulsing in their eyes. They couldn’t see anything past that. I had given up on dating at all when Winnie had come under my care. There was too much on the line, too much to risk when it came to her. I didn’t want to involve anyone in my life who I wasn’t sure would get along with her.

“Come on.” Yara nudged me with her foot. “I’ll get you a drink when it’s all over. I just want you to get out there again.”

“Fine,” I agreed with a sigh.

She punched the air and got to her feet, instantly going through everything that she had on hand about this woman.

“So, she’s the same age as you,” she explained. “Seems cool. And enthusiastic. She works as a vet—not the army kind, the animal kind—and she’s going to meet you on Friday night.”

“Friday night?” I muttered, and I went to pull up the calendar again.

“And I’ve already put it aside so that I can take care of Winnie for you,” she assured me, reading my mind. “Come on. You know I’m got you covered. You go out and have a good time, all right? I’m giving up prime party night for this, so you at least owe me that.”

“Fine,” I agreed. “But don’t you dare go and set me up on anything else without checking with me first, all right?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” she said. “I’m just glad you’re going to get out of your little man-cave for a change.”

“Very funny,” I replied dryly.

She cocked her head at me and shrugged. “All right, all right. I get it. I’ll leave you to it. But the vet. On Friday. Okay? We have a deal?”

“We have a deal,” I replied, and she stepped out of the office and closed the door behind her. And it was only when she left that what she had just said really clicked into place with me.

A vet?

I couldn’t help but think of the vet I had met a few days before. The one we had taken that little dog in to see. I still had her card tucked away in my pocket somewhere. I should have gotten rid of it, but I liked feeling it in there every time I dipped in to reach something out.

She had been sweet and also hot as hell. Not to mention the fact she worked a job that had to be seriously tiring. I doubted that she would have had a lot of time to put herself out there and bother to find blind dates any more than I did.

Winnie was finally talking to me again after I had taken the dog into the vet. She had come home from school that day with a look of certainty set on her little face, and I had known what she was going to say before she opened her mouth.

“We’re not getting a dog,” I warned her.

She sighed and laughed. “How did you know that was what I was going to say?”

“Because it’s written all over your face,” I told her, turning around and planting my index finger in the center of her forehead.

She batted it away playfully. “Can you think about it?” she begged me. “Please? Just a little?”

“Just a little,” I replied. “But don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

“We could go and see that nice vet lady again,” she offered slyly.

I raised my eyebrows at her. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be bargaining here, missy,” I teased her. “Go on. Take your bag upstairs and unpack. I’ve got dinner cooking.”

I was just glad she was talking to me again. And more than a little surprised that she had picked up on my attraction to Raina. She had her mother’s perceptiveness. That was for sure.

And now, I was going on a date with a vet.

Exactly what vet? I had no idea, and precisely how it would go being out on the dating scene again after so long? I wasn’t looking forward to finding out. But Yara was right. I couldn’t just hide out forever.

I needed to get back out there and see what the world had to offer me. This might not have been the way that I would have chosen to do it, but maybe I needed a kick in the ass to get things moving.

Friday night. For the first time in a long time, I actually had a reason to look forward to Friday night. And it felt pretty damn good.