“Have you?” he teased.
“I most certainly have.” She lifted her chin and marched out of the store. Donovan caught up with her in a few strides. Damn him and his long legs.
Laughing, he took her hand and entwined their fingers. “Are you really going to buy Mrs. T a present?”
“Absolutely. I always give her a gift. I haven’t done my job if I don’t make her groan, the louder the better.”
“Give me your greatest hits.”
Jada rubbed her hands together. “There was the time I got her a Raiders hat.”
Donovan guffawed. “You got her a hat from our biggest rival? That’s brilliant.”
Jada preened. “Thank you. I’ve never seen her so outraged. I mean I don’t follow football, but I’ve heard her disparage them enough over the years to know the gift would be perfect. I ran out of the room to stop my giggles from giving me away while she opened the gift. Then she yelled for me to get my butt back in the room. She said, and I quote, ‘Now that I’ve calmed down, I recognize this was a gag gift, so in that vein, I approve. Don’t ever bring this crap into my house ever again.’ Then she started up the fireplace and threw the hat inside. It went up in a glorious ball of flames.”
Laughter rumbled from his chest. “What else?”
Jada giggled as one particular memory came to mind. “She loves the landscaping around her estate. It’s her pride and joy. Award-winning variety of flowers and trees, with a nice pond to balance things out, all carefully selected by her, as far as the eye can see. She loved when Home and Garden came calling a few years ago. Whenever we talked, that’s all she could talk about. I bought her a whole family of inflatable flamingos, garden gnomes, and a nice, inflatable pool for them to drink out of. I had them delivered and set up a few days before the photo shoot. That was greatness.”
“You put a lot of thought into her gifts.”
“I try. The trick is to have fun with it. Sometimes, the right gift presents itself like the garden gnomes. Other times, I think about it for months, and I end up walking around a mall waiting for inspiration to strike. Like today. I’ve been a little busy, if you haven’t noticed.”
She suddenly stopped. “That’s it. It’s perfect. Grams is always busy, and as her granddaughter, it’s my duty to help her in any way I can.” She grabbed his hand. “Let’s get out of here. Grams is going to love her membership to singlesoversixty.com.”
* * *
After dinner, during which they followed Nicholas’s directions to a T by eating at a restaurant that placed them in full view of the other diners and passersby, they headed back to his car. Donovan pulled out his phone when it beeped with an incoming text. He studied the screen, his face going carefully blank. He shook his head, then stuffed the phone into his back pocket.
“Everything okay?” Jada asked.
“Yeah, no worries.”
She didn’t believe him. He sounded distracted, a million miles away. But she couldn’t force him to tell her. And it wasn’t the first time he’d gotten that look on his face after a text.
He was keeping secrets. It was the reminder she needed to guard her heart and not just hand it over to him like she’d done in all her previous relationships. What they had was new, so she needed to take her time.
“This whole situation has been so strange for me,” he said a minute later, nodding at a woman who called out their names from across the street.
“How so?” Jada studied his profile.
“I’m used to people recognizing me and wanting to talk about football, but now I’m that guy dating Jada from My One and Only. I’m getting recognized more than I’ve ever had before.”
Jada nodded. “Yeah, that’s the power of social media.”
Donovan shook his head. “And gossip.”
They stopped at his car. Jada didn’t want their time together to end. But the truth was they didn’t have any plans for the night. He could drop her off at her car at the bakery and go on his merry way. She looked up at him curiously. He hadn’t produced the key fob to unlock the door. “What’s up?” she asked, hitching her purse up on her shoulder.
His head tilted to the side. “Here’s the thing. I had a good time tonight.”
A teasing smile played across his lips. She should stop staring at said lips. Act like she had some chill. But they were so stareable and biteable. And lickable.
Chill. Right.
She cleared her throat and pointed at herself. “Here’s my thing. So did I.”