“I don’t have feelings,” I mutter.
He snorts. “Yeah. And I’m a nun.”
I want to tell them to screw off.
But they’re right.
I rub the back of my neck, staring out past the trees, the scent of cut wood and sweat clinging to my skin. Truth is, I can’t stop thinking about her.
That smart mouth. That smile she tries to hide when she’s being sarcastic. The way she stood in my kitchen like she belonged there. Like she’d always belonged there.
Overnight I went from a man who kept his boots by the door and his heart out of reach… to someone who gets pissed off when he doesn’t hear a giggle echoing down the hall.
I didn’t expect her to come with a kid.
Hell, I didn’t expect her to come at all.
But now?
It’s not so bad.
The chaos. The constant low hum of life in the house.
That kid’s laugh when she knocks over a tower of blocks.
The way Holly curls up on the couch with her hair falling out of whatever attempt at a bun she made that morning.
It’s good.
Too good, maybe.
I don’t trust good.
But I want it.
“Earth to Jack,” Finn calls. “You spacing out or composing love sonnets?”
I grunt. “Just picturing punching you in the mouth.”
“Aw,” Grady grins. “He’s blushing. It’s love.”
I toss a rag at him.
But they’re not wrong.
I’m looking forward to going home. To asking how her first full day in Devil’s Peak went. To hearing about which cranky store owner rubbed her the wrong way, or which local gushed over Josie’s sweetness.
To seeing her face.
And maybe, if I’m lucky?—
Hearing that sweet little giggle again.
Yeah.
Guess I am playing house after all.
Chapter Three
