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May 22 - June 4, 2022
If I’d known my new job would land me smack-dab in the middle of a food fight, I might’ve reconsidered my best friend Emi’s offer to talk me up to the hiring committee.
The thing is, I’m no quitter. Well, except for my last job. But I had good reasons to leave teaching. So unless you count that one time I left my dream career, I don’t surrender when the going gets tough.
“Daisy!” A deep voice sounds behind me, and the girl startles. I turn and see a pair of sturdy work boots. The scuffed and rugged kind, like whoever wears them isn’t afraid to get dirty. As my gaze travels upward, I notice a pair of well-worn jeans settled above those boots. And the jeans are attached to a man. A very well-built man. Scrambling to my feet, I curse the long, stretchy skirt that makes moving my legs more difficult. I probably look like a baby giraffe. More specifically, a graceless baby giraffe. Then again, grace has never been my strong suit. One might say it’s among my weakest
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He rushes past me, squeezing his body into the playhouse. When he gathers Daisy in those well-built arms, his muscles strain against his fitted T-shirt. Zap! Pow! Bam!
“You see, I brought my daughter to visit the aquarium, and she taught me that you can lead an almost five-year-old horse to water, but you can’t make her feed the fish.” “I was right!” I blurt out. “I guessed she was five!” Mr. Well-Built meets my gaze. “You guessed almost right.” He offers me a small smile, then his eyes skate back to Mr. Dudley. “Anyway,
I would also blurt out something like this smh 😂😂😂
“If this gentleman had asked you to jump off a cliff, would you have done it?” Actually, maybe. If Mr. Well-Built promised to catch me.
As he leads Daisy away, I find myself wishing I’d had the chance to fix her crooked pigtails.
This would also be me
My pulse picks up, and it’s not from the delicious scent of Mr. Well-Built hanging in the air.
Still. Something Dudley said about her keeps playing in my head. She’s more interested in entertaining the children than working security. The guard used to be a teacher, which means she’s already been thoroughly vetted. Fingerprints. Background checks. She’s obviously safe around kids. Even better? My daughter likes her. Those are instincts I can trust. “Hey, Daisy. Let’s go find Brooke Wallace.”
When he touches my elbow, sparks of electricity shoot up my arm. “Hey there, Brooke Wallace,” he says. His voice is low and deep, with just the right amount of gravel. He almost sounds like he’s growling. But he’d better not be growling. Not after he got me fired. I pull away from the sound of his voice and the scent of his skin. Dignity, Brooke. Hold onto it. Lifting my chin, I try to act stronger than I feel by a mile. Maybe two. “Hey there, back.” I want to be mad at the man, but his eyes are so soft and warm, I start thinking about butter. Butter for corn on the cob. The corn that cost me
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“About that,” Mac says. I look up and he meets my gaze. “I have a proposition for you.” My eyes go wide. “Proposition?” “No, no, no.” Mac raises both hands in protest. “That came out wrong. I’m not that kind of guy.” “Good.” I straighten my shoulders. “Because I’d hate to have to kick your butt.” Mac takes a beat, then laughs out loud. Pretty soon my mouth is twitching too. I don’t want to like making Mr. Mac laugh, but I do. I like it. A lot. “You. Kicking my butt.” He shakes his head. “Now that I’d like to see.” “Well.” I lift my chin. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” “Fingers crossed.”
They’re toooooo cuteeeeee
Mac chuckles. And I like it.
“Hey, Daisy. Do you think we should go check on Ms. Wallace?” Daisy hops, skips, and jumps. “I agree. I think we should go see what’s wrong.”
I pass Brooke my phone. “Punch in your address,” I tell her. She frowns, but she does it anyway. “It’s just for navigation,” I say. “I promise not to stalk you.” “Good to know.” She makes a noise that’s half cough, half snicker. 100% adorable.
Mac chuckles again. He sure likes chuckling. The sound is low and kind of sexy.
I am hereeeee for low and sexy chuckling 😭😭
“Wow.” Tess blows out a breath. “I feel like you’ve been living at Mom’s forever.” “Me too,” I say. “Daisy and I haven’t been back in almost a year. It was just too hard after Gwen left.” Tess frowns. “I could kill that woman. Leaving on Daisy’s birthday.”
SHE LEFT ON HER BIRTHDAY?!
No matter how beautiful Brooke is, I’m not interested.
The leather interior is the color of a baseball glove. Smooth and supple. She sucks in a breath. “Gosh, I love that smell.” “Yeah, me too,” I say. That’s when I realize she’s talking about the new leather. I’m talking about her shampoo.
The corners of my eyes start to sting. So much for not letting anyone see me get misty. Brooke looks down at Daisy with that crooked smile still on her face.
She’s not talking, but she’s paying attention.
This is important 👏
“If you ask me, he sounds kind of adorable,” Emi says. “I mean, sure. If you like dads.” An extremely hot dad.
Daisy falls asleep on my lap. This is definitely not unattached. The girl is literally attached to me.
Mac grins. “You wouldn’t dare.” I shift my thumb. One little push and he’ll be soaked. “You don’t know me very well.” Mac lunges at me and I squeal, squirting him with one long burst of water. Then he pries the nozzle from my hand, and he sprays me back. A lot. “Stop!” I shriek, but we’re both cracking up and trying not to slip on the slick floor. When he wraps an arm around me and pulls me in close, I tip my face up to his. That’s when a drop of water rolls off his nose onto my chin. I look into his eyes. Those glass-green eyes. My heart’s a hammer in my chest.
One minute, we were messing around. Joking with each other. Having fun. Then, out of nowhere, there was more than fun between us.
“Things are good right here. Right now. Stop looking for a different kind of good.”
I like thissssss
Brooke wouldn’t like the real you.
I BEG TO DIFFER
“I’m nice,” Mac says. “At least I was trying to be.” He furrows his brow. “I knew you hadn’t taken care of your car this past week because you’ve been taking care of Daisy. So I called Franklin. I thought you’d be happy to have this handled for you.” I splay my hands. “Do I look happy?” “No.” He folds his arms across his chest. “You definitely do not.” My pulse races. This all feels too familiar—having someone else try to handle my life for me. “Here’s the thing, Mac.” Inhale. Exhale. Breathe, Brooke. “I don’t need you—or anyone else—to fix things for me. Not my car. Or my life.”
Ohhhh boy...
My cheeks feel so hot they’re probably as pink as my skirt and cardigan. I must look like a flamingo.
He catches my eye and I shiver. It’s like a lightbulb flicker. Electricity.
Mac: I wouldn’t ask but … it’s an emergency. We need you.
👀👀👀
Because I do feel bad about asking Brooke for help. But being near her is giving me a jolt of excitement that’s probably written all over my face.
“For the record, I’ll pay you overtime too.” She thinks for a moment, then shrugs off whatever it was that made her eyes look like that. “No need,” she says. “I’ll just eat my weight in ice cream while you’re gone. I’ve been dreaming about that pint of Rocky Road in your freezer.” I try to smile, but I can’t help noticing the difference between Brooke and my ex. No amount of money could buy Gwen what she wanted, and Brooke doesn’t even want the money she deserves.
By the time I join Daisy in her bedroom, she’s emptied out her drawers and is sorting through piles of shirts and shorts. “What color do you want to wear today?” She keeps digging until she finds a tank top with turquoise polka dots. She holds it up. I’m wearing a tank top in the same shade of turquoise. Oh. Sweet girl. “That’s a good choice,” I say. “How about these for the bottom?” I pick out a pair of denim shorts. Just like mine. Daisy snatches them from me.
I can’ttttt 🥺😭
Mac: Gonna be another hour or so. Hope that’s okay. Me: Princess Daisy and I are safe at the castle. Take your time, Prince Charming. Without thinking, I hit send. Then my stomach drops. Ugh. Why did I call him Prince Charming?
OH MY GOSH 😂🤦♀️
Either way, that’s the kind of woman Mac chooses for romance. I’m the one he chooses to be his nanny. I close my eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out.
“No book,” Daisy says. The frog prince falls to the floor. Oh my gosh. She just talked? Don’t scare her off, Brooke. Just keep calm. I swipe at my tear-streaked face. “You don’t want to read a book tonight?” “No.” Daisy wags a finger. “Don’t be sad, Book Wallace.”
“Daisy talked!” “Oh, man.” I blow out a breath. “I want to be at home right now. So bad.” “I know, but we’re all good here. So get back to work, mister. Fix all that erosion stuff. Or the concavity thing. Or whatever. Fix the world.” I gulp down the lump in my throat. What if I don’t want to fix the world? What if I just want to be Daisy’s father? “I should be there,” I say. “And you will be as soon as you can. In the meantime, your daughter talked again. Be happy, Mac.” “I am. Believe me. And Brooke?” Heat spreads across my chest. My neck. My face. “Thank you so much.” “No problem,” she says.
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Now I see she’s perfect in all the other ways.
And I’m not talking about how her hair smells. Or the shine in her eyes. Her soft, electric skin. Brooke’s better than that surface stuff. Better for Daisy. Patient. Smart. Funny.
When she falls asleep, legs draped over me, I carry her up to bed and tuck her under her ladybug quilt with the frog prince and Tuttle the turtle on either side. I tell myself I’ll just sit for a few minutes to be sure she’s really asleep. But the truth is, I can’t stop staring at her sweet, little face in the glow of her nightlight. No. That’s not accurate. The truth is I don’t want to stop staring at her.
There’s no sign of them in the kitchen, so I head upstairs, doing my best not to clomp on every step. Yeah, I know. It’s probably not cool to sneak up on them. But snatching glimpses of Daisy and Brooke together makes my guts flip. Like fish in a net. Steelhead. Osprey. Tributaries of the Willamette. Those are the things Brooke said she came here for. But maybe she’ll stay for us.
I step into the room and there’s Daisy asleep, her soft breaths coming slow and easy. The rise and fall of her chest is so peaceful. And I know Brooke did this. She made my girl feel safe again. She made her laugh and talk and sing. Just in time to leave. Everybody leaves us.
When she finally gets up and brushes past me, adrenaline shoots straight through me. Her skin is warm and she smells like strawberries. I just want to wrap my arms around her and—
And suddenly there it is—filling the room—a full-blown grin from Brooke. Brighter than her eyes. Hotter than the sun. Burning a hole in my heart.
I can’t help myself. Brooke Wallace makes me ramble.
When he sits down next to me and his leg brushes mine, I’m afraid I might start drooling.
“How’s the tea?” he asks. “Delicious,” I gush. Then I back up the enthusiasm. Being this excited over tea isn’t normal.
I shouldn’t be glad that Mac doesn’t have time for dating. But I am.
I am too! 👏👏
Mac meets my gaze, and my heart beats faster. Tingles in my spine. His Adam’s apple bobs.
Heat rises in my cheeks, and I stare at Mac’s mouth, at the scruff on his chin below it. I start to wonder how that scruff would feel against my lips. My head’s so dizzy I’m afraid I might fall out of my chair. Don’t fall out of your chair, Brooke.
