AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah. They’ve been seeing each other for a while, and she wants to spend more time with him.”
“That’s fair enough, Tanner.”
He turns, looking at me. “I know, and I get how she feels. I wanna spend every second of the day with you.” He leans in and kisses me, just briefly. “The thing is, being completely selfish about it, I rely on Katie, and if I get custody of Nash, I don’t know how I’m gonna manage.”
I tilt my head, frowning up at him. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What?”
“Me. Nash and I get along okay, so I’m happy to help with him… and I’m unemployed, too. I used to work in a bookstore, and I’d love to work with you, if you’ll have me.”
“If?” He chuckles and lifts me onto his lap. “Damn… I must be getting old. Why didn’t I think of that myself?”
“Hopefully because you didn’t want me to accuse you of taking me for granted?”
“That would be it,” he says, smiling, as he holds the back of my head and kisses me. “I was feeling so despondent when Katie said she wanted to reduce her hours. I couldn’t work out what to do. That’s why I came up here… because I knew you’d make me feel better, and not only have you done that, you’ve given me a solution.” He shakes his head, shrugging his shoulders, like he’s confused. “I don’t know how you do that. I don’t know how you always make everything feel okay. But I love you for doing it.”
“Nowhere near as much as I love you.”
Chapter Twenty
Tanner
I hold Zara in my arms and lean back into the couch.
“Are you okay?” she whispers.
“I am now, although you should’ve seen me earlier, when Katie broke her news to me. Coming on top of everything else that’s happened in the last few days, it felt like a conspiracy.”
“I guess her timing could have been better.”
“She apologized for that, and it’s not her fault Sabrina’s being so difficult.”
“No. It’s not,” she says, nestling against me. “Did you know she was seeing someone?”
I shake my head. “She’d kept it very quiet, although I have to say, it’s nice to have an explanation for her dating expertise.”
“Her what?” Zara says, sitting up again.
“Her dating expertise. It was Katie who suggested I should come to the school and ask you to have dinner with me.”
“Really? I thought that was your idea.”
“No. I wanted to see you again. I just didn’t know how to go about it.”
“So we have Katie to thank for where we are now?”
“Not entirely,” I say, smiling down at her, and she smiles back. “Although the picnic was her idea, too.”
“The picnic that never was, you mean?”
“Yeah. We can’t blame her for the weather, though… and I’m certainly not complaining about the outcome, are you?”
“Definitely not.” She puts her arms around my neck and pulls herself up, kissing me.
“And now we’re gonna be working together,” I murmur when we pull apart, both of us a little breathless. “It’s like a dream come true.”
She nods her head, although there’s something in her eyes that makes me wonder, and as she lowers her head, I clasp my hand beneath her chin, holding her steady.
