But the second her hand landed on his bare skin, her head tucked against his chest, any sense of obligation had cut and run. He’d become acutely aware of her scent, her softness, her warmth…and two very opposing facts.
She was hiswife.
And she wasZoey.
Had that moment gotten to her too? He’d never know. Today, she was back to all sunshine, playing hangman and other note-passing car games with Amelia.
The only thing that had changed was the glint of gold on her ring finger.
He frowned. She deserved a diamond. Not that he could really afford it right now, but one day.
Assuming she had reason to stick around that long.
“Now left.” Amelia tapped again.
“Got it.” They meandered through a low-income neighborhood that had probably seen better days. Overgrown weeds poked through cracks in the street. Trash littered the sides of the road. An abandoned car, stripped of its tires, had become completely taken over by vines a block from the apartment complex the GPS directed him to.
He pulled into the parking lot, killed the engine.
Zoey edged forward on her seat, frowning as she peered up at the sagging gutter in front of the office door, the chipped paint. “You said you called ahead?”
“Yeah, the lease is up this weekend.” Linc opened his door. “Manager said she’d let her in.”
Amelia hopped eagerly from the backseat, practically jogging to the front door with the box of trash bags they’d brought tucked under her arm. “Come on!”
Linc grabbed a tub from the bed of his truck, braced it against his side. Zoey fell into step beside him. “Guess Kirsten didn’t have a great job.”
Or…“Guess she spent her money on what she wanted.”
Zoey winced. “I wasn’t going to say it.”
“You’re not going to offend me.” He shot Zoey a look. “She is what she is.”
Her voice softened. “This is a nice thing you’re doing for Amelia, letting her get her stuff.”
Linc shrugged. “She asked. And with school starting Monday, well—I figured it was the least I could do.”
She slowed her pace. “Well yeah, I’m sure she’ll feel more comfortable with some of her own belongings, but it’s a lot more than the least, Linc.” She looked up at him. “It’s a good dad move.”
The words washed over him, warming something deep inside, and he gripped the tub a little tighter. Zoey’s approval had always carried a bit more weight than the average person—which wasn’t hard, seeing how that amount was typically none—but this…
This was different.
Amelia hurried inside the office, where a potted plant fought to live, the air thick with the lingering aroma of cigarette smoke. A middle-aged woman with frizzy bleached hair sat behind the front desk. “Hey, Tara. Remember me?”
“Hey, doll.” Tara’s smoker’s voice was as thick as the air. She set down the romance novel she’d been reading and fished in the desk drawer. “13B, right?”
“Right.”
Tara handed over the key without a single word to Linc or Zoey, picked her novel back up, and waved them off.
Zoey and Linc exchanged a look.
Within minutes, Amelia had led them up rusty stairs to a nearby unit with cracked trim. The door across from Amelia’s contained a flowered wreath and a worn welcome mat—clearly an effort to cheer up the place.
But Amelia’s door was bare, save for the splattered stain of some kind of dark liquid. She burst inside, a rush of stale air mixed with rotting food drifting out the door in her wake. Zoey discreetly coughed.
Linc frowned, his bulk nearly filling the entryway of the small space. A nearly empty living room with a futon and a TV tray as a table sat next to a dirty window. Stains covered the threadbare carpet. The kitchen was to his left, clearly the source of the rancid smell. A short hallway led to the back, where he assumed the bedrooms and bathroom were. A bug skittered across the floor and vanished under the cabinet trim.
