Page 48 of Falling For You

Barb and Andy were at the kitchen table with their coffee, talking like they'd been doing it for years.

"Look, Daddy!" Birdie scrambled off her chair and ran to me. "Andy did my hair! Look!"

She turned her head so I could see the back. A single braid ran straight down between her shoulder blades, tight and even, every section folded into the next without a single flyaway. It looked nothing like anything I'd ever managed.

"I see that." I crouched down and pulled her into a hug. "It looks beautiful, Birdie."

Andy glanced at me over her coffee. Her eyes searched my face, like she was checking whether she'd overstepped. She hadn't.

Barb set her mug down and gave me a look over her reading glasses. "You've had this woman living across the street for how long and you didn't think to introduce us? I needed someone to talk to about my books, Wyatt. Andy is a very well-read woman."

I bit the inside of my cheek.

I knew what books Barb was talking about. No wonder Andy was so protective of what she was reading that first night at The Lantern.

Andy caught my eye. She saw the grin before I could stop it. Her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed into a look that said, don't you dare.

"What?" Barb looked between us.

"Nothing." I turned to the counter and poured myself a cup of coffee. "I'm just glad you two are getting along."

I walked Andy across the street. Twenty feet of sidewalk she didn't need help crossing, and she let me do it anyway.

We were halfway across when she turned to me.

"Don't you ever tell anyone I read romance novels or I'm going to kill you."

"That's police brutality."

She gave me a look. "You know what I mean."

"I held onto the lingerie thing for weeks. I think I can handle this."

She shoved my shoulder. "I'm serious, Brooks."

"So am I."

She held my eyes for a second. The space between our front doors felt shorter than twenty feet.

"Thanks for the coffee."

"Any time."

Andy smiled. "Good night, Brooks."

"Good night."

She turned and walked up her steps. I watched her go. She was pulling out her keys when Knox's voice drifted through my head. Don't sit on it too long, brother.

"Andy?"

She turned around. "Yeah?"

I looked at her. Standing on her porch with her keys in her hand and that half-smile still on her face.

"Thanks for doing Birdie's hair."

"It's nothing."