Page 30 of Unexpected Complication

“No.”

“Fence?”

“No. It starts with a G.”

“Gnome.”

“Oh. I never thought of that as a decoration.”

“What do you think of gnomes as?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Scary little devils. I don’t like them, and I certainly wouldn’t put one in my garden.”

I laughed.

“Anything else?”

“Four-letter word for a flightless bird.”

“Kiwi.”

She offered me a smile. One so genuine and warm, my breath caught in my throat.

“You’re good.”

She frowned as she wrote it in the book. I couldn’t take seeing her in pain anymore.

“Can I help?”

She looked up. “What?”

“We can do it together. I’ll fill in the words, so you don’t hurt your hand writing.”

“Oh.” She offered me the pen. “Okay.”

I shut the laptop and moved my chair closer. Our shoulders touched, and as I leaned over the book, Skylar’s hair fell over her shoulder, the soft ends brushing my hand. I knew if I turned my head slightly, I would be able to bury my nose into her thick tresses. Strangely enough, it was exactly what I wanted to do.

“Pencil.”

Her voice startled me out of my thoughts. “What?”

“Number six across. Pencil.”

“Right.”

I filled it in and then quickly did seven, eight, and ten across.

“Hey!”

“Sorry.”

“Fourteen is Egypt.”

I grinned. “Sixteen is bookshelf.”

She huffed and reached for a red pen, putting a small check mark by fourteen and six.

“What’s that for?”