“Don’t worry, Darce. It’s still a fling.” The hint of a smile crossed his face. “For now.”
Then he opened the door and strode out of the shed, leaving her staring after him in dismay.
For now? Crap. What did he mean by that? What the heck was that stubborn man up to?
And why did she get the most unsettling feeling she wasn’t going to like it?
Or…an even scarier thought…that maybe she’d like it too much.
Chapter Thirteen
“Did you see that?” Devon was grinning from ear to ear as he turned to check if Reed had witnessed the perfect spiral the kid had just thrown.
Granted, the football hadn’t sailed more than fifteen feet in the air—and landed nowhere close to the target they’d set up—but Reed wasn’t about to point that out. Or complain. Because damn, the kid really had mastered the art of the spiral. And after only two tries, no less.
“That was awesome,” he called out. “A few more throws and you’ll be giving Tom Brady a run for his money.”
The eleven-year-old boy bounded across the grassy field toward Reed, sidling up to him as he went to retrieve the football. This was their second official “outing,” after Darcy’s school had gotten in contact with Reed two weeks ago.
Apparently Devon hadn’t stopped raving to his mother about Reed’s defense workshop, so much so that Monique Pearson had asked the school for Reed’s number and called him up out of the blue.
Devon’s mother had revealed she’d recently enrolled her son in the Big Brother program, but that he’d yet to find anyone he really connected with. When she’d asked Reed if he would consider joining the program and being paired up with Devon, he hadn’t had the heart to say no.
And now he was glad he’d agreed. He absolutely adored the kid and found himself looking forward to these Sunday afternoon outings. Their allotted two hours had flown by today, and Devon looked disappointed as they left the football field behind the high school and walked to the parking lot.
“Are you sure you can’t come for dinner?” Devon asked, his bottom lip sticking out.
Reed shook his head regretfully. “Sorry, kiddo, I really can’t. I start work at seven, and I have a few things to take care of before that.”
Devon sighed loudly. “Fine.”
He ruffled the kid’s curly hair and smiled. “How about next week? If it’s okay with your mom, maybe I’ll stop by for an early dinner before work.”
The boy’s face lit up. “Yes! I’ll ask her the second we get home!”
Chuckling at the kid’s enthusiasm, Reed unlocked the car and opened the passenger door for Devon. Once they’d both settled in and buckled up, he drove in the direction of Devon’s apartment building in Dorchester.
Ten minutes later, Reed walked the boy up to his fifth floor apartment, greeting Devon’s mother with a smile after she’d opened the door.
“Did you boys have fun?” Monique asked.
As usual, the woman looked incredibly frazzled. Reed had learned that she worked two jobs—full-time hours during the week for the first one, and a weekend graveyard shift for the second, which meant that Devon’s grandmother stayed with them when Monique worked the overnighters. Reed didn’t envy the woman, but he sure as hell respected her work ethic, not to mention her determination to provide a good life for her son.
“Reed is gonna come over for dinner next weekend!” Devon told his mother. “Is that okay?”
An indulgent smile lifted her lips. Reed got the feeling that she rarely said no to her son, not if she could help it.
“Sounds good to me.” Her grateful gaze shifted to Reed. “Thank you. You’ve been wonderful with him.”
His cheeks warmed up from the praise. “My pleasure. He’s a great kid.” Reed ruffled Devon’s hair again. “I’ll see you next Sunday, kiddo.”
There was a spring to his step as he left the building. Man, he truly loved spending time with that kid.
And he also loved spending time with Darcy, which he was also about to do.
It had been two weeks since their illicit visit to the farmers market, and in those two weeks, Reed had steadily been making headway with her. All those pesky rules she’d initially tried to enforce were crumbling away one by one.
No sleepovers? They crashed at each other’s places all the time.
No dinners? They’d gone for Italian just the other night.
No heavy conversation? Last week they’d stayed up all night talking about their families.
Oh yeah, he was definitely wearing her down.
Even though Darcy still insisted it was a fling, he knew damn well that it wasn’t. At least not for him. He loved every second he spent with her, and not just the sex part. He loved sending her those cheesy text messages that he knew made her smile. He loved her silly jokes. Her laughter. Snuggling in bed together after they’d rocked each other’s worlds.
Christ, he liked her so damn much.
No, it was more than like. He was falling for her, and he was helpless to stop it.
He didn’t want to stop it.
And he was confident that sooner or later Darcy would admit she was falling for him, too. She had to. He was trying so damn hard to show her that she could count on him, but he’d also promised himself not to push her—he wanted her to reach that conclusion all by herself.
Reed had two hours before he needed to head over to Sin, which gave him and Darcy plenty of time to get into all sorts of wicked trouble, but when he knocked on her door twenty minutes later, his anticipation was instantly snuffed out.
“Oh, crap,” she blurted when she saw him. “Didn’t you get my message? I can’t hang out today.”
He furrowed his brow, then reached into his pocket for his phone. When a black screen greeted him, he cursed under his breath. “It’s dead. I guess I forgot to charge it this morning.” Reed studied her flustered expression. “What’s going on?”
Darcy raked a hand through her hair. She’d worn it loose and it fell over one shoulder, the wavy strands hovering over the V neckline of her white T-shirt. Her dark-blue skinny jeans hugged her shapely legs, and when Reed glanced at her feet, her yellow flip-flops and bright red toenails made him smile. She was so fucking pretty his heart squeezed.
“My dad’s in town.” Her flat tone revealed her precise thoughts on the matter.
During one of their many no-longer-forbidden conversations, Darcy had told him all about her father and how he swept into town a few times a year before disappearing again for months. In Reed’s opinion, the man sounded like a total jackass. A selfish jerk who’d run out on his wife and daughter.
But he hadn’t voiced his opinion to Darcy. No matter how unreliable her old man was, he was still her old man.
“Did you know he was coming?” Reed asked.
She shook her head, her jaw tighter than a drum. “Of course not. I never know when he’s coming.” A buzzing drew her gaze to the phone in her hand. She looked at the screen, then groaned in annoyance. “God, this is insane. He says he wants to see me, but he keeps changing the plans. We were supposed to have lunch at the harbor, but now he wants to meet at the Starbucks around the corner from here.”