Page 24 of Falling for Her

“Speed through what?” He sips his own coffee.

“Well, you really didn’t tell me anything yesterday before you left. I mean, you just grunted out a couple of words.”

“‘Grunted out a couple of words,’” he repeats.

“Yes, like Emergency here. Call me.” I sound robotic.

He laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t sound like that.” I raise my eyebrows. “Okay, let’s get to it.”

“Right. Okay, so what time does Asa have to be in bed?” I put the cup down beside me and take out my phone.

“Yesterday was an exception. I’ll be home earlier today, before he has to go to bed.”

“Unless you’re scaling walls and saving lives and can’t come home on time. The hours of criminals are not nine-to-five.”

“Okay, if I’m not home by eight, max eight thirty, he should be in bed.”

“And if he says he wants to wait up for you, I tell him you don’t want to see him. Got it.” I nod, looking down at my phone. I like that he’s grunting and growling at the same time. “Bike riding. I’m assuming he has a bike, or no?”

“He has a bike,” he confirms. “He also has a helmet that he has to wear on the bike.”

Shit, that is good information, but I’m not about to have him think I wouldn’t have made him wear the helmet. “Obviously, I wasn’t going to let him go without it.” I roll my eyes and put “helmet” on the line next to “bike.”

“While he’s on the bike, where are you going to be?” he asks me.

“Tanning,” I deadpan. I’m expecting him to growl at me, but instead he chuckles. “What do we think about model rockets?” I’ve earned myself a glare. “So that’s a no.”

“That’s a no.” He gets up, and I don’t know why, but something feels off about him doing that. “What else do you have on the list?” He walks past me and puts his cup in the sink.

“Those were the only two things I had.” I put my phone down on the counter. “I will let you know if I add anything else.”

“When he rides his bike, you can use mine. Asa can show you where everything is.” I look up and meet his eyes. “Can you have him call me when he gets up?”

“Yeah.” I turn my head and pick up my coffee cup.

“I’m going to go and give him a kiss goodbye.” He walks to the stairs as I head to the front door and step out onto the porch. There’s a paper flipping under my windshield wiper.

“Shit, did I get a parking ticket?” I walk down the steps, looking for any parking signs. The paper is yellow and folded in half. My stomach roils as I pull it out from under the wiper. I open it and in the middle, in red ink, is written:

Reconsider coming back home now.

“Oh, my God.” My hands shake as I look right and left to see if anyone is watching me. The street is deserted.

The door slams shut, and I look up to see Lincoln with his sunglasses on, hiding his eyes.

“Was wondering where you went.”

I rush to ball up the note in my hand. The last thing I want him to know is that I have an ex harassing me while I watch his child.

“What’s in your hand?”

“Just a flyer for tires,” I lie. “Check and see if they left one on your windshield.”

He glances at his truck. “They didn’t.”

“Must just be because I’m parked on the street.” I walk around the front of the car, farther from him. “Anyway, I have to go inside. I don’t want my boss to think that I left his son alone. I’ll have him call you.” I keep my head down as I run up the steps and into the house. I close the door behind me, then lock it.

“Go to hell, Davis,” I mumble. I rip the note up and shakily toss it in the kitchen trash can. “Motherfucker.”