"Damn, you go all out for first dates, don't you?" Kaia said with a happy sigh as she relaxed in the chair.

"You were on your feet all day, so I thought it would be a good choice." For Tuesday's date, I left the office a little early and picked up Kaia from the diner. She'd brought an outfit there that I had suggested that includes shorts and sandals, and then I brought her to a nice spa near the beach for a foot massage and pedicure.

Yes, I know, I could have done the whole picnic on the beach, or fancy dinner and a movie, but I thought this would make her feel a ton better. Who would want to go walk on the beach after waitressing for eight hours on your feet? This way she gets pampered, and we can have a low key dinner afterwards. I knew from our phone call that she was a single mom and was working two jobs to go to night school, so I didn't want to do anything that would show off my relative wealth. It wasn't like I made a ton of money with my job, but considering I had lived without a mortgage or car payments for the last five years, I had saved more than enough to be comfortable. The only real bill I had was the marina fee for my cabin cruiser, and I was already planning on selling that after the divorce was finalized. With the job issue, I wasn't going to be looking for a new place to live till I had a new job too, though I'd still help my mom out. Yes, I know, a 28 year old guy living with his mom, just who everyone wants to date.

"You're not wrong, I just never would have expected it." She looked so relaxed that I knew right away that I had done a good job on this plan. Even as we spoke, both our feet were soaking in an Epsom salt bath, and I was enjoying it as much as she was. Yes, part of that was because she looked so blissful right now, and her soft smile made her face radiant, but my feet were happy too.

"I'm a man of many talents, and dates are evidently one of them! This also gives us a chance to talk a little, unless you're going to nap." I couldn't help but joke a bit, but her smile broadened as she peeked one eye open, and mock glared at me.

"I just might nap. But first, why were you getting the surgery on Friday?" she wondered.

I should have known that would be one of her questions. I did promise I'd always tell the truth, so I guess that is what I should tell her. "My wife and I haven't had a great marriage since Connor was born. One of the things she kept complaining about was using birth control, which based on what I saw was just another lie. But I still tried to do something that I thought would make her happy and remove the need, but thankfully it didn't work."

"What do you mean it didn't work?" She opened both eyes to gaze at me now.

"I guess I didn't react well to the anesthesia, so I woke up part way through the procedure. So, they only got one side, and I would have to go back and get that finished if I ever wanted to," I explained. It was way too early to talk about having kids, but maybe it was a good thing the doc never finished?

"Where are you and Connor living now?"

"I'm staying with my mom until I decide what to do about my job. I'll start a job search in May or June and then once I know what I'm doing I can start looking for a place to live. The only thing that might delay that would be the divorce." I didn't think it would be an issue, but I had no idea what Kate might be thinking about it.

"So, you're here till July at least?" she sounded hopeful, and that seemed to be a good thing. She also didn't seem to mind me living with my mother too, which was good. She understood the situation, so it didn't matter.

I turned my head, and she trained her eyes on mine now. Her eyes were honest, and not hiding a thing, just looking for whatever answers I might give her. "The project I'm going to be starting soon has to be done before the NFL season kicks off in the beginning of September. Ideally it would be done a month before that so there is nothing interfering with the preseason too. This is my last project for my current company, and I'm hoping to go out with something ahead of schedule, and I have a good team to help with that. But I could stick around after that if I needed to. I don't know what is going to happen here, but if you and I wanted more time to decide things, I would stay."

"No rush then?" She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and sat up a little.

"Kaia, we can take all the time we want. I promised to be honest, so I can say that if my divorce goes as expected then I won't have to worry about a job for a bit. Sure, at some point I'll want to find out where the future brings me, but I wouldn't want to rush you or us. This feels good. First date or not, I want to take you out as much as I can and see if this can work. I meant it when I told you I don't play games. I'm not going to ghost you or gaslight you, because that isn't the kind of relationship I want. I don't need a label to be loyal either. If I'm dating you, then I'm dating you and only you, no questions asked. The only one that I put above anything is Connor, and I expect you and Kassidy are the same."

She nodded at that. "And you're okay with me being 21?" her eyes flickered to the floor, as though I was going to disappoint her.

"I'm only 28, so it isn't like that is a huge difference. I should be asking you if you're okay with the age difference." I didn't even consider her age when I thought about us together. Seven years didn't seem like a big deal to me.

"I like you being older. You're already established and know what you want. If I was going to be with someone, I'd need that stability. I can't have Kassidy bouncing all over from place to place and not feeling like she can have any sort of real home."

I could understand that. Hell, I was worried about that with Connor. Right now, it felt like we were on an extended visit to his granny's house, but I wasn't sure how long that would last. I did find it rather telling that he hadn't asked for or about his mother, but it was hardly shocking since he barely saw her anyway.

Was it wrong that I was already envisioning a future with Kaia? That I could see Connor and Kassidy growing up together, maybe with another kid or two alongside them? I dated in high school, and a little in college before I met Kate, but I'd never been drawn to anyone like I was to Kaia. It was like I was a moon just pulled into her orbit and I had no desire to escape. If she told me she wanted no more dates, I'd already be hurting worse than I was after the Kate debacle.

"No, Kassidy needs that. You're absolutely right. Did you have any more questions? Or should I ask some now?"

"You can ask some. I have more things I'd like to know, but you deserve some answers too. But not about Kassidy's father. I'll tell you about that another time." I had a feeling that would be a sore spot, and I hadn't planned to ask. But if he was anywhere around here, I would enjoy meeting him. Or at least my fists would enjoy it. If he didn't know Kassidy existed, it spoke a lot about him already.

"What are you going to school to be?" I wondered. She was obviously working her ass off, and I was hoping to find out what she wanted to do.

"I'm a computer science major. I was hoping to get into programming. I know there are a lot of IT jobs that let you work from home, and I wanted to do that and maximize my time with Kassidy," she told me.

"Shit, I might have to hire you then. That was my major in college, with a Minor in Business. Hell, maybe we can open a consulting company together. That is what I do now," I suggested. If I got the money from Kate, and there was no reason to think I wouldn't, that wasn't a very far fetched idea.

"Are you serious?" She looked at me with her jaw open, as though I was joking.

"Absolutely. I've already seen how hard you work, so at a minimum, I could get you an internship with any number of people I know from past projects. I also know a few I could poach to make my own business too, we could probably make that work." The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. It made the Dolphins' project even more important though, because it could be my showpiece in the future. If that project went well, that could be a ticket to work with any number of professional or college sports team in the future.

"Shit! Thank you! If you could do that, it would be so amazing!" she gushed, tears in the corners of her eyes. Other than Heather and her family, I had a feeling she didn't get many good things coming her way. I had every intention of changing that.

"I would do that for you even if I didn't want to date you. You deserve it!"

"Okay ask me something else quick before I cry!" she was dabbing at her eye and trying hard not to get too emotional.

"Okay. What are your thoughts on Cuban food?"

"I love it!"

"Perfect. Then after we're done here, there is a great Cuban restaurant that is right on the water here. If you're hungry, then we can have a short walk and a nice view with the food," I promised.

"You're really winning on this first date Cole. I have to give you that!" she said with a giggle before sniffling a little. "I would have been happy with dinner and a movie, but my feet are in heaven."

"Not yet they aren't, wait till they start the massage!"

I was right, when they started the massage, I thought I was going to need ear plugs, because it felt so good she was happily moaning nonstop and I was having issues trying not to enjoy that in ways that were much to inappropriate for a first date!