“Let’s deal with this, one thing at a time.” He glanced at her and saw the blush still on her face. It took all he possessed not to smile. Right now, Pixie wore the innocent wonder of a woman noticing a man for the very first time.
She shifted the tiniest bit. “Okay. One thing at a time.”
“Did Ellen describe the man to you?”
“Yes.” After sharing what she knew, she asked, “Does that sound like your father?”
“I haven’t seen Brian in so long, it’s hard to say. I remember him as a big, good-looking guy. He’d be in his mid-fifties though, and from Ellen’s description, I’m guessing the guy she saw is older.”
“I guess that’s better then?”
Did she think he wanted a reunion with a man who’d done nothing but despise his existence? “It makes things less complicated. If Brian is somewhere else, eventually Ruth will return to him.” If they were both here, there’d be a possibility they’d settle somewhere nearby, and he definitely didn’t want to chance running into them.
When he pulled into the grocery store lot, Pixie sat forward and asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to run in and get our stuff—if you don’t mind waiting here with the kids?”
Worried, she reached out and clasped his forearm. “I don’t mind, but are you sure that’s a good idea? The rain is really coming down now.”
When he leaned forward, her eyes widened until he half-smiled and reached into the back seat to retrieve a rain slicker.“I won’t melt, and I’ll be quick. Just promise me you’ll stay in the car with the doors locked until I get back.”
“I don’t plan to play in the rain.”
The indignation after her blush made not smiling impossible. God, he wanted to kiss her. To lean forward and touch his mouth to hers. A fleeting kiss that he knew would feel so good.
But he didn’t.
“Good to know.” Because he had to touch her, he brushed his thumb over her cheek—and watched her eyes flare again. Instead of retreating, he tucked back her hair and gave her a simple truth. “Just so you know, you make everything easier.”
Her lips parted, she hesitated, then managed a nod. “You do, too.”
Brogan knew better. He’d brought nothing but complications to her life. “You don’t ever have to sugarcoat things for me, Pixie.”
She surprised him by cupping a hand to his neck as if to restrain him. Brows pinching together with sincerity, she insisted, “I’m not.”
Brogan lifted a brow. Did she even realize how freely she touched him? Pixie liked to connect—emotionally, but physically, too. And yet she’d been alone since before Andy’s birth. Incredible.
Especially since she was warming up tohim.
Mistaking his look for mocking disagreement, she said, “It’s true! I know there are some difficulties, but we’ll get through them, right?”
We’ll get through them … as in a couple?
“You have been a help, more than you realize. But it’s also been so much fun. For Andy and me.”
This time, it was her thumb stroking his throat, and the innocent touch found a direct path to all pertinent parts of his body, making every nerve sizzle alive.
“I never knew anything was missing from his life until I saw how much he …” The words tapered off.
“How much he what?”
Softly, with extra meaning, she whispered, “He loves spending time with you.”
If Pixie loved spending time with him, too, then Brogan would count himself lucky. In his thirty-one years, never before had he felt that way. Luck was not something that visited him very often.
“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had,” he shared. “But nothing was missing from Andy’s life. I know, because he has you for a mother.”
Another flush warmed her skin, this time—he thought—from pleasure. “If that was true, it was before he had you and Shayna. Now, I’m afraid, he’d know exactly what he was missing.”
