“Perhaps you could live there and do something else?” she ventured to suggest, wanting to see Sam’s wish fulfilled.
Dale straightened his shoulders. “Perhaps,” he replied, his tone a little less warm. “I’ll discuss it with my dad when he’s up to it. He didn’t put it on the market yet, right?”
She nodded. “Right. I believe he’s having a hard time doing it,” she added, wanting to convey his father’s reluctance.
His gaze narrowed a second before he let out a long breath, and the weight of exhaustion settled into his features and slumped shoulders.
Okay, now she felt like a jerk.
“I’m sorry, Dale,” she said, briefly touching his arm. “I should go. I’m sure you didn’t get much sleep last night, plus you drove in.”
He smiled wryly. “Didn’t sleep at all. I packed up and drove straight to the hospital after Gabe called yesterday.”
Worse than a jerk. She felt like ajerk-ass.
Sadie might not be an accountant, but she’d definitely inherited her parents’ knack for numbers. After a quick calculation of drive time from Virginia, she determined Dale had driven for an entire day, pushing no sleep to the next level.
She glanced around his broad shoulder at the clock on the microwave. “I have a meeting in ten minutes,” she said, if one called joining her friends for lattes and donuts a meeting. She did. “Then I plan to visit your dad this afternoon. You should take a breather and crash for a bit. Sam and rehab were never meant to be in the same sentence. You’re going to have your hands full. Take advantage of the peace and quiet while you can.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine,” he said, and she blinked again because his exhaustion miraculously disappeared.
“How did you…Is that a SEAL thing?”
He chuckled. “Something like that.”
Her phone buzzed with an incoming text. She pulled her cell from her pocket and smiled at the display.
Lattes in ten.
On my way, she typed in response, before stowing her phone.
“Your meeting?” Dale asked.
“Affirmative,” she replied, using his earlier response. “I strongly urge you to reconsider that nap.”
He lifted a brow and regarded her closely. “I don’t nap, unless I’m exhausted from a…physical workout.”
Holy freaking SEALs.
She set a hand to her throat, trying to keep her thudding heart inside. “Dale Taylor, are you flirting with me?”
Had to be a mistake.
That sexy smile returned to tug at his lips. “What if I am?”
“Then I need to go outside and check the sky.”
He frowned. “What for?”
“Because surely it’s full of flying pigs,” she replied, bending to pet Ranger before she marched straight out of the house and away from temptation.
The last thing she needed was to fall under that man’s spell again.
Too bad he was exactly what she wanted. What, no—who—she’d always wanted.
For the first time in two months, Sadie wasn’t so thrilled to have Sam living next door.
Chapter Three
