Page 28 of Falling for Her

I wait until he’s upstairs before I ask, “Today was good?”

She nods, getting up. “It was nice. They have a lot of energy.”

I head to the kitchen and notice the empty stove.

“You didn’t make dinner?” I try not to snap at her as I turn. She’s standing across the island from me.

“I did for your son, and he ate,” she replies tensely. “When I said I’d cook and clean, I meant I’d cook and clean for Asa, but if you want me to cook for you⁠—”

“I’m sorry,” I say quickly. “I shouldn’t have expected you to cook for me. It’s been a long day of doing practically nothing. Did you eat?” I pull open the fridge to see if there is anything.

“I ate a bit with Asa, but I was going to figure something out when he went to bed.”

“I’ll throw a couple of burgers on the grill. Want to stay?”

“I could eat a burger,” she agrees.

I take out the frozen patties and put them on a plate, adding salt and pepper to them. “We can sit outside,” I tell her, gathering everything and heading out to start the grill.

“You get in the tree house yet?” I ask her as she sits on the top step, watching me. Her face shows that she’s also exhausted.

“I kept trying, but it is still a girl-free zone. Lucy and Sage tried too and were told the same thing.”

I laugh as I add the burgers to the grill. “I’ll have a talk with him.”

She’s frowning at me. “You have glitter on your arms. And not for nothing, but you smell like roses and berries.”

I look down, and sure enough, I see the little sparkles of glitter. “It’s not what it looks like.”

She holds up a hand. “What you do is your business. I’m just saying that he was looking forward to spending time with you tonight.” She gets up. “He looked at the door every single time he heard someone drive by.”

“I was waiting for . . .” I can’t really tell her what I was doing. I flip the burgers. “It was for work.”

“If you say so. I think I’m actually going to call it a night. I’m too tired to eat.” She walks down the steps. “Have a good night, Lincoln.”

CHAPTER TEN

FINLEY

Nerves are running through my body as I reach for the back door and pull it open. Lincoln’s sitting at the island, hair still wet from his shower. The black shirt fits his shoulders like it was made just for him.

“Morning.” I see he made a big pot of coffee today and I grab a mug.

“I’ll wait until you get your first sip before I say anything.”

I groan loudly. “Is there any way for us to do this without me being here?” I ask as I focus on pouring my coffee. “Like, why don’t you text me Gone and then I’ll come to work, and we don’t have to do this every morning.” I open the fridge for milk and notice the extra burger he made last night in a container. My hand stills. “Why didn’t you eat both burgers?”

“Kept it for you so you could have it today,” he replies softly.

“That was very nice of you,” I say, grabbing the milk and adding some to my coffee. I take a sip, wishing I had steamed milk instead of just regular milk. I turn around and lean on the counter as he finishes his toast. I wait for him to look at me.

“I want to apologize to you for last night,” I say. “I was out of line. I shouldn’t have yelled at you about Asa.”

He pushes away from the counter. I watch as he walks to the front door, opens it, and sticks his head out. He comes back and stops next to me to look out the window over the sink.

“What are you doing?”

“You just apologized to me,” he replies. “I was looking to see if the world was ending.”