Page 43 of Between the Lines

“Here let me—” I grab the car seat, quickly realizing I know nothing about how to secure one of these. Fia follows me, collapsing the stroller to toss in the trunk.

“Trust me, you don’t even want to attempt that,” she says, rounding the side of the car. Daisy’s little arms cling around her mom’s neck, but her eyes are glued on me.

Fia climbs into the back of the Jeep, her limbs twisted as she shoves the car seat base into the backseat. Daisy begins to fuss, struggling to hold on to Fia’s shoulder.

“Hand her to me,” I say bluntly, but Fia flicks her eyes towards me and back to the task at hand.

“Fia,” I say her name louder as she actively avoids my gaze. “I may not know how to install that, but I am pretty confident I can hold a toddler for two minutes.”

“Uhm . . .” She blows hair out of her face and stands up straight, grabbing the Jeep’s roll bars as she studies me.

My ego is almost hurt.

I smirk at Daisy, who stops pulling on her mom’s shirt and smiles back at me, drool running down her round chin. Fia wipes her brow with the back of her hand and relents. “Okay, fine. It’ll only take me a minute.”

Daisy acts like she was dunked in cold water, too shocked to do anything when she’s passed to me. She leans back, staring up at me, her green eyes round and bright.

I stare back, suddenly unsure what to say . . . or do?

Cars fly by us on the busy road, traffic building up as dinnertime approaches.

Daisy continues to watch me, probably confused how she got here.

Me too, kid.

Fia clicks everything into place impressively fast. With a triumphant expression on her face, she reaches down for her daughter.

“Thank you,” she replies as I hand her off. “Was that your first time holding a baby?” Fia bites back an amused smirk as she buckles Daisy in.

I snort. “Was it that obvious?”

Fia pinches her fingers together and grins. “Just a lil bit.”

The muscles in my body loosen a little seeing her smile.

But as we start heading towards my home, she goes quiet again, back into her shell. She clutches her small purse tightly against her stomach, periodically swiveling to check on Daisy in the backseat.

“I really didn’t want to have to call you,” she finally blurts out, cutting the silence, and I turn to look at her.

“Come again?”

She smooths a hand over her hair. “It’s just that you’re my boss, I’m your employee, and I know boundaries are important to you, so I want you to know that I truly didn’t want to bother you . . . I just had no one else.”

Her words sting, unexpectedly.

Because what if I want to be the first person she thinks to call, not the last? What if I want to be the person she knows she can depend on . . . like I depend on her.

What lines would that cross? I can’t even keep track anymore.

“I’m glad you did.” My words come out gruff. “There was no way in hell I was going to leave you and Daisy stranded.” I glance over at her again.

Fia casts her eyes down at her hands clasped in her lap. “Well, thank you. I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” I reply quietly. “Seriously.”

She puffs her cheeks, like she wants to argue, but as we stop at a red light, Fia slaps a palm to her forehead.

“Shoot, I totally forgot—I needed to grab something from the store for dinner tonight.” Her hair is unraveling from its braid, framing her face as she stares at the grocery store up ahead.