“I hear the four of you had some excitement last weekend.Finding a mystery bone?”Rylee served herself another pancake.
“We did.”Delilah tugged on Cody’s arm.“Cody did.Tell Aunt Wylee, Cody.”
And Cody did.He didn’t spare a single detail, either, and while he rattled on Braden caught her eye.He did that crooked smile thing that made her insides go warm and soft—a lot like she’d felt last night when they’d been huddled under a blanket together.But, instead of replaying any one of the electrified moments they’d shared at the football game, she smiled back.Smiling was a perfectly acceptable thing to do.Getting hot and bothered while having a family breakfast was not.
* * *
Braden needed to stop looking at Maggie—especially since his sister was keeping tabs on him.It wasn’t intentional.All throughout their meal, she’d move or say something or breathe and he found himself turning her way.When she smiled or laughed, he was smiling and laughing, too.The connection was stronger now, for him, anyway.Last night had shifted things for him and left him with a hell of a lot of questions.The most important one: Had things changed for her?
“Wannaseethe bone?”Delilah asked.
“You have it?”Rylee’s brows rose.“Here?”
“Cody wet me borrow it for show-an-tell.”His little girl grinned at Cody.“He is my friend.He shared with me.”
Cody smiled and nodded.
That smile and nod was a major step.It was the first time Cody indicated he wasn’t just tolerating Delilah, he might actually like her.Braden wasn’t sure who was happier over the boy’s acknowledgment: Delilah or himself.From the way his daughter was lit up like a Christmas tree, she probably was—but he was a close second.
“Come on.”Delilah ran around the table, grabbed Rylee’s arm and tugged.“It’s in my room.”
“Are you done?”Braden was impressed she’d eaten as much as she had, but if there was a chance she wanted more, he wasn’t going to clear her plate.
“I’m stuffed, Daddy.”She patted her tummy.
“Me, too.Let’s go, and you can show me this bone you two are so excited over.”Rylee let Delilah drag her out of the kitchen and down the hall.
“Can I go, too, Ma?”Cody was already half on, half off his seat.
“If you’re done eating, sure.”Maggie barely got the words out before the boy was running after the other two.“Have fun.”She shrugged and started laughing.“He’s going to be so disappointed if that bone turns out to be something unexciting—like a giant moose or something.”
Damn, he loved hearing her laugh.And seeing her smile.“Things seem to be going well between the two of you.At least, I hope they are.”He waited for her to face him so he could get a feel for what she was thinking.
She stood but avoided his gaze.“Better, actually.He really enjoyed last night—and he was so worried about Delilah getting sick.It was sweet.”She started stacking up plates.“I think she’s starting to win him over.”
“You don’t need to clean up.You’re my guest.”He rose and took the plates from her.“I can do the dishes in a bit.”
She stared straight ahead, which meant she was staring at his chest.He wasn’t imagining how red her cheeks were—and getting redder by the second.
“Are we okay?”He swallowed.Something was off.He could feel it.
“Yes.”But her voice cracked.“Yes,” she said again, steadier this time.
He didn’t buy it.“You sure?”He took a deep breath.“I want us to be okay.”
Her gaze darted his way, then away.“I… We… Of course we are.We’re friends, Braden—”
“We are.”He set the plates on the table.“Last night I got the feeling that, maybe, there was more to it than friendship.”That got her looking at him.Finally.
For a long moment, she seemed to be searching his face—his eyes.Then, he thought she was going to say something.Instead, she groaned and shrugged.
“You can say it.”He hoped like hell she would.
“Braden…” She swallowed.“All of this is… I… I’m nervous.”
He could breathe a little easier now.There was a whole lot flitting through those green eyes of hers—like maybe she was struggling as much as he was.“Me, too.”He reached out to smooth a curl from her forehead—
She dodged his hand and stepped aside.“About messing things up.We both agreed to be friends.We both need friends—friends with kids, especially.Now Delilah and Cody are getting close.And that’s a good thing.We shouldn’t jeopardize that.Or this…our friendship.”Her gaze fell from his.“I think, maybe, it’s normal to have confusing feelings when you’re in the situation we’re in.You know, on our own—a bit lonely.That’s why things got awkward last night.Tense and, well, you know.”She shrugged.“But we’re just friends.And we’ve agreed that’s what we both need.A friend.”
