Page 19 of Singled Out

Max reached across the console, put his hand on my wrist, and squeezed gently, supportively. “You did what she asked of you, and you added your own bit of Harper flair to it.”

I laughed through my tears. “I bought a boy with it. Naomi would absolutely approve.”

Max’s laugh filled the SUV again. He took his hand away before it could start to feel awkward. “She sounds like a special person.”

“She was incredible,” I said. “Unselfish. And now we need to talk about something different because I cannot stand up and accept her award and bawl like a baby.”

“So let’s go back to being allergic to commitment. Is that just with careers or with everything?”

“Everything,” I said easily, unapologetically. “There’s too much out there to experience, you know? If you saddle yourself down with one thing, you miss all the others.”

“Like…what?”

“All the things. Like, what do you like to do in your free time?”

He was quiet for a few seconds, which had me looking over at him again to see if he’d heard me. I still couldn’t tell.

“Max?”

“Yeah. Free time. I change diapers, go for romantic jogs in the park…with a stroller, read board books.” He shot a grin at me, a little self-conscious but without apology. It seriously jolted me in the chest.

“Your baby,” I said.

“Technically he’s a toddler now that he’s walking, but yes, my son gets all my free time, which isn’t nearly enough.”

Why was that so…attractive? A man who was so passionate about his son? And if you knew the very basic circumstances of his situation, where the baby was not his biologically but he’d embraced him as his own? I didn’t want anything to do with babies or parenthood, but on Max, it was delicious.

Or maybe just Max was delicious in general.

Delicious but not for me.

It would not suck, however, to have him by my side tonight.

Call me shallow.

“I can’t imagine being a parent,” I said. “Particularly all of a sudden.”

“Do you want kids?”

“Not specifically. They’re kind of commitmenty.”

He let out a gasp of amusement. “That they are. So what kind of things do you do in your free time?”

“Lately mostly art.” I was dedicated to opening the studio as much as possible, so if I wasn’t working, I was there. “But I like stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, swimming, running, hiking.”

“What kind of art do you do?”

“I’ve tried just about everything.”

“What’s your favorite?”

The question made me twitchy, and I knew it was because it felt a little like committing to one thing. I also knew that was screwed up, but that was just the way I was.

“I like metalworking and jewelry making and mixed media. Colored pencils. I did glass-blowing lessons once, and that was fun.”

Grinning, he said, “You were serious about not settling into any one thing, weren’t you?”

“Hundred percent. There’s a little dose of math for your evening.”