“Listen to me. I ruined my last relationship because I’m either at one of two jobs, or taking care of my dad. I don’t have time for anyone else in my life, and from experience, most women expect—”
“I’m not most women, Simon.”
He stared at her and then let out a breath, a hint of a smile in his eyes. “No kidding.”
Emma wanted to wrap her hands around his throat and squeeze . . . but she also wanted to have her merry way with him. If only she could do both, but she did neither. “I’ve gotta get going. What brought you here today?”
“Besides you?” he asked, and she had to ignore the way her heart skipped a beat. “I needed to talk to Alison. I’ve got a PT appointment and I can’t miss this one. I’d take Dad with me, but the last time I did that, he walked off and ended up at the mall with my credit card. I’m still paying off the massage chair.”
She snorted. “Gotta love him. So what was your plan? Drop him off here?”
Simon looked around, like that hadn’t occurred to him. “I didn’t think she’d be staying here all day.” He noted Miss Kitty in her chair in the front corner, knitting away. “Do you take people too?”
“Just dogs and cats, and as of today, a turtle named Sammy.”
As if on cue, there was suddenly an odd banging-on-tin sound.
Hog tipped his head back and gave a mournful howl.
Simon raised a brow.
“Meet Sammy,” Emma said.
“The turtle?”
“He’s banging on his pie tin. Wants his lettuce.”
Simon stared at her for a beat and then smiled. “This place really does suit you.”
Another skipped heartbeat. At this point, she was going to start needing beta-blockers to control the arrhythmia. “Alison won’t be back for a few.” Emma glanced over at Dale, who was now sitting on the floor with Mrs. McCreary, surrounded by books he’d pulled off the shelves, happily reading to her out loud. With one arm, of course, because the other was casted. “I’ll take him,” she said softly.
“What? No. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t.”
They stared at each other.
“In fact,” she said, “the only thing you’ve asked me to do is to walk away from you.”
He drew a deep breath. “If you think that was an easy ask . . .”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Emma—”
“Leave your dad with me. I’ll keep him safe.”
“Why? Why would you do this for me?”
“Because you’ve helped me in a way I can never repay. If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t know if I’d have ever gotten here.”
Simon gave a slow head shake. “It was all you.”
She shook her head. “You believed in me, even when I didn’t. I’ll never be able to pay you back for that. But I like your dad, and this is something I can do for you.”
“Emma.” He lifted her chin. “I never meant to hurt you.”
Okay, so she could hold on to her hurt about how he’d backed off from a romantic entanglement—or she could toss it out as an experiment gone wrong and keep him in her life. The decision was actually surprisingly easy. “I know. And it’s all good.” Emma held out her pinkie. “Friends?”
He hooked his pinkie with hers, mouth curved but eyes very serious. “Friends.”
She felt the muscles in his arm spasm, as if maybe he was fighting the urge to pull her into him. She hoped he was. She was evolved, but even she had some feminine pride.
“We okay?” he asked.
“We’re okay. Go work, Simon. I’ve got your dad.”
“I’ll call Alison. She’ll take him with her when she leaves here.”
She nodded, watching his gaze land on her mouth. She wasn’t the only one who missed having that mouth on hers. Even better . . . A small comfort, but she’d take it.
THE REST OF the day was a blur for Simon. He’d gone from the PT clinic to Armstrong Properties, where he spent just over eight straight hours putting out various fires all over the place. A remodel on an older building where a contract worker slipped and twisted his ankle. A broken pipe at another property that had flooded the bottom floor. And the list went on.
He’d called into Paw Pals and checked on Dale. Emma had assured him that his dad was good and staying out of trouble. He’d also called Alison, who’d told him the same thing and also that he was an idiot.
Like he didn’t know.
At six thirty, he walked into his apartment with a good amount of trepidation. Alison was very good to Dale, but when she was the one in charge, the house tended to completely fall apart around them. Dale liked routine. Also he was still unsteady on his feet. If even a chair was out of place, he’d trip over it. So Simon often spent several hours cleaning up after his dad was in bed.
But when Simon entered his apartment, it was quiet and peaceful. The living room was spotless and there was music playing softly. No wait. Not music, but sounds of waves hitting a shore, an incredibly soothing sound. And the scent. Something so delicious he walked like a zombie toward the kitchen, following his nose.
Emma was at the stove, stirring something. His dad was at the table, laughing.
Laughing.
And for the first time all day, Simon felt like he could breathe. But there was something else, something still tight in his chest, he realized, as Emma turned from the stove, her hair piled up on her head, her cheeks flushed, a ready smile on her face for his dad, looking so adorably sexy, his heart rolled over.
“Oh,” she said, flustered to see him. “Hi.”
Ten and a half hours since they’d pinkie promised to be friends no matter what and still his body hadn’t gotten the memo. He wanted to blame it on the tight, faded-to-threadbare jeans she wore with a gauzy top that had tiny straps crisscrossing over her bare back. But it was the sandals that stopped his heart. Also strappy, they had a three-inch heel that put her at eye level to his mouth. Her toes were painted alternately in blue, purple, and green, and that made him smile.
“Present to myself for signing on the dotted line to buy Paw Pals,” she said. “I haven’t worn heels in a year and they were on sale.”
“You look beautiful.”
“Thanks, but . . .” She kicked off the heels and sighed in relief. “Going to have to work my way up to them. Maybe after the surgery.”
“You got your approval?” he asked hopefully.
“Not yet.”
Damn. “We’re going to have to find another way.”
The look she gave him reminded him that they weren’t a “we” at all, and that it was his own doing.
Dale got to his feet. “Going to go wash up for dinner.”
When he was gone, Emma turned to Simon. “Alison got called back to work. She had a showing, and before you say a word, I offered.”
“You should’ve called me. It shouldn’t have been your responsibility to take him home.”
“It’s not a big deal.” She shrugged and turned back to the counter. “And it’s kind of nice to have dinner with someone for a change.”
She spoke casually, even lightly, but there was suddenly a new tension in her body. Her parents were gone, as were the two people who’d been closest to her, and they’d ripped themselves out of her life in a way that had left nothing but betrayal in their wake.