A Matter of Trust Read Free Page A

and a great flirt. Lexie’s definitely
in love with you.”
    “ Men are not gorgeous,
Trish, although I’ll take the charming comment, and I do like to
flirt on occasion, especially with Lexie.”
    Trish looked over at him, a sparkle in
her eye. “I hate to break it to you, Jake, but you are gorgeous.
Beautiful, too. Those dark blue eyes, that build of yours. Any girl
would kill for those long, thick eyelashes and curly
hair.”
    “ Why, Trish, I never knew
you even noticed.” He batted his eyelashes at her, making her laugh
out loud.
    “ Anyone with eyes would
notice, Jake. Don’t be modest. You’ve seen yourself in the mirror.
Between that face, that body, and the cross between cowboy and
businessman, you’ve got it going on.”
    “ Well, aren’t you the one?
I can’t remember the last time I got so many complements in one
night.” He winked at her and took another sip of his wine, never
taking his eyes off of her.
    “ How about every time you
walk into the room? Surely you’ve noticed women checking you out.
You could have your choice.” She took a sip of her own
wine.
    I’m hoping so,
sweetheart . “Maybe I should try out some
come on lines and flirting on you, Trish. What about it? Here’s
one.” Jake cleared his throat and got a sexy smile on his face.
“You must be tired, darlin’, because you’ve been running through my
mind all day.”
    Trish erupted into a fit on giggles.
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
    “ No? Okay, how about this
one. You didn’t hurt yourself, did you baby? It’s a long way down
here from Heaven.”
    “ Please, Jake no more.”
Trish continued to laugh and rolled her eyes. “No wonder you’re
single. You might as well ask if she wants a burger and fries to go
with that shake.”
    “ Let me write that one
down, Trish. It’s good to hear you laugh. You don’t do nearly
enough of that. As I recall, you always had a smile and a laugh
handy when you were a kid. Why so serious?”
    Trish sobered. “I just grew up, I
guess. Life has a tendency to do that to you, especially when you
have kids.”
    “ Kids are all the more
reason to laugh and cut up, if you ask me. God knows those two of
yours keep me laughing every time I’m around them.”
    She smiled again. “Kids do say and do
the funniest things, don’t they? You should have a couple of your
own some day. You’re great with them.”
    Now Jake got serious. “I’ve always
wanted kids. Maybe someday. In the meantime, I’ll just rent out
yours from time to time. You’ve got great kids, Trish. You’re doing
a great job with them. You’re a wonderful mother.”
    “ Thanks, Jake. Heaven
knows I try. It’s the most important job I’ve ever had in my life.
I’m so worried I’ll screw it up. They already have a strike against
them, since they don’t have a father around. I just want them to
grow up and be happy.”
    “ I’d say they’re off to a
great start. It must be hard being on your own.”
    “ Sometimes. But in some
ways, it’s easier.”
    “ How so?”
    “ Listen to me, going on
and on. I’m sure you’re not interested in the pros and cons of
single parenthood.”
    “ Sure, I am. I care about
you and the kids, and I am interested. What were you going to
say?”
    “ When you have two
parents, although that’s best for the kids in the long run usually,
there are lots of things that come up that you disagree on. Like
going to church every Sunday instead of sleeping in, or how to
discipline the kids when they misbehave. It’s hard to agree on
things all the time.” Serious again, Trish got ready to set dinner
on the table.
    Jake missed her smile. “I guess it
would be a good idea to try to square away as much of that stuff
before you have kids as possible. There are always going to be
surprises and unplanned things that come up in a marriage, but I’d
think trying to find middle ground beforehand would be a good
idea.”
    “ Yeah, that’s true.
Unfortunately, you never really know a