I’d spent my entire adult life keeping people at arm’s length. Part of that was because it was safer that way. After losing Mama, and then Melody, I hadn’t wanted to let anyone in. But another part was because I didn’t want anyone to count on me. To need me. I didn’t want to be responsible for or accountable to another human being.
So why was I inserting myself into the lives of not just one person, but two?
I still didn’t have the answer to that question when I knocked on the door.
“Coming!” Skyler called out seconds before she opened the door and took my breath away.
She’d changed out of the jeans and tank-top that she’d been wearing earlier and was now in leggings and an oversized sweatshirt. Her auburn locks were flowing over her shoulder, framing her sweetheart face. And she was wearing her black-framed glasses that I’d grown so fond of over the past twenty-four hours.
Her sweatshirt hid all of her pinup-worthy curves, but she could wear a burlap sack and still be the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.
“What are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly.
“I have an extra pizza and I thought you guys might be interested.”
“Pizza!” I heard the high-pitched squeal a second before I saw a bouncing blur of blonde hair rushing toward me. “Mr. Hank!”
“Hey, Luna Luna.” I bent down and intercepted her bear hug.
“Oh no, we were just about to have our dinner.”
“But, Momma, we were only gonna have rice and vegetables because you burned the chicken, remember?” Luna looked up at her mom and I noticed that she had a red stain of something around her lips. It reminded me of when my brothers would drink juice and then pretend they were the Joker.
Skylar looked down at her daughter then back up to me and shook her head. “You already paid for the trolley ride, ice cream, and now this.” She motioned to the boxes. “It’s too much.”
“It’s pizza, not a four-course meal. And if you don’t eat it, it’ll just go to waste,” I lied.
I wasn’t in the habit of lying, in fact, I hated liars. But technically, Jimmy would just inhale it without even enjoying it which would be a waste. And anything that would keep me from spending an evening with Skylar and Luna would definitely be a waste.
CHAPTER 10
Skylar
Hank Comfort standing on my porch with pizza in hand was a sight for sore eyes, and that’s exactly what my eyes were. Well, not sore, but tired. The forty-eight hours straight that I’d driven was really catching up with me. I was able to sleep last night but I wouldn’t exactly call it restful. My restless, sheet twisting night had been filled with NSFW dreams of the man standing in front of me and I’d woken up feeling frustrated and somehow more exhausted.
My tired eyes drank Hank in. He wore a navy-blue hoodie, faded jeans, a ball cap, and work boots. Some women loved guys in uniform, or suits, or gray sweats. I’d always had a thing for guys in hoodies, faded jeans, ball caps, and work boots. For some reason, it rang my bells. When I saw a man dressed like that, he just looked so capable. So manly. Like he could change your tire and fix your washing machine if it broke.
My mouth watered and I wasn’t sure if it was from the delicious scent of pepperoni and cheese or the tantalizing sight of Hank. He was all sorts of temptation. Sustenance and sexiness. How was I supposed to resist that?
And Luna was right, I had just burned the chicken.
Could we survive on the steamed veggies I’d made as a side dish? Sure.
Would it be better with pizza? Absolutely.
Was it the best idea to spend more time with Hank? Probably not.
“Please, Mommy!” Luna’s hands were clasped together as she pleaded with me and she laid the puppy dog eyes on thick.
Raising Ashley after our parents died had been good practice for having Luna. One thing I’d learned during Ashley’s teen years was the value of picking my battles. This was not a hill I planned to die on, so I opened the door.
“I can just leave them.” Hank offered, perhaps sensing my hesitation. “I don’t have to stay.”
“No! Stay!” Luna jumped up and down. “Stay! Stay! Stay!”
I’d made a batch of Kool-Aid when we got home this afternoon and from the red stain lining her lips and the bouncing she was doing; I’d say I might need to cut her off.
“We’d love you to stay.” I smiled as he stepped inside. “And thank you. Again.”
His muscled forearm brushed me as he walked inside and those butterflies that I’d felt before walking up his steps when I went to return the money were back again. I pressed my hand to my belly and took a deep breath as I closed the door.
I watched as he walked through the front room to the dining room and set the pizza boxes down. At close to two thousand square feet, my grandfather’s gable front home was much roomier than the 900 square foot condo I’d rented in Seattle. But somehow with Hank being in the space, it felt…claustrophobic.
I wasn’t sure if it was his wide shoulders, his height, or just sheer mass, but the space seemed smaller. And sexier. And less oxygenated.
I was suddenly finding it difficult to breathe.
Hank Comfort was such an imposing presence and I wasn’t talking about his impressive stature. The man had a way about him. It was commanding and authoritative which I found even sexier than his perfect jawline, muscled physique, bedroom eyes, and mesmerizing voice.
He took his hat off, ran his fingers through his hair, and looked around. “Wow. You’ve been busy.”
After coming home this afternoon, I’d tackled the front room, washing the walls, floors and putting up some new curtains I’d picked up at the Super Saver which we’d gone to after ice cream and before the grocery store. I’d also unpacked all of Luna’s books and some of our pictures to set in the built-in bookcase to give the place more of a home vibe.
“It still has a long way to go.” As much as I appreciated having this place, this safe haven, I was scared to find out just how bad things were behind the walls once I got into the nitty-gritty of things.
All I’d done so far was give the old place a tiny facelift and added personal touches. It had all been cosmetic. But if I did decided to stay here, I was going to have to do serious surgery to make sure it was a safe place for me and Luna long term.
Luna was talking a mile a minute as she and Hank followed me into the kitchen. I’d love to blame her chattiness on her Kool-Aid consumption, but the amount of sugar she currently had coursing through her had nothing to do with it.
She was a talker. Always had been. It could be a lot, even for me.
But it didn’t seem to faze Hank in the slightest. If anything, he encouraged her long-winded stories. Always asking questions, and genuinely appearing to be interested in her answers.
I grabbed the paper plates that I’d picked up at the Piggly Wiggly since I realized somewhere between South Dakota and Missouri that I’d forgotten to pack the dishes. It was a miracle I’d remembered pots and pans since I packed up our entire lives in under five hours.
As we sat down to eat Luna reminded me, “Momma, you said I could watch TV and have a picnic dinner.”
“Picnic dinners” were something that I’d come up with to ease the guilt of wanting Luna to be occupied while we ate and letting her watch television to give me a break. I didn’t do it often. The rule was no TV during dinner. But on special occasions, like after I’d spent 48 of the last 96 hours driving, Luna got to have a picnic dinner.