Page 61 of His Wounded Heart

I snort. “Lady, that makes two of us.”

“No, seriously. I’m not talking about me working too much and being a single mother. I’m saying my head is screwed up when it comes to men. I refuse to inflict a headcase on any man, let alone someone I like.”

This beautiful and accomplished woman just said that she likes me, and I take a moment to savor it. As I look into her eyes, I can see a little more than like, and I know that if she takes a peek, she can see the same in my eyes.

“Trenda, let’s just sit here awhile and get to know one another better. How about that?”

She looks at me like I’ve grown a third eye. When was the last time I had to work this hard with a woman? I give an inward wince. Not since I made lieutenant, so that would have been twenty-five years ago. She captivates me more than any woman I’ve met in the last twenty-two years, and that includes my ex-wife. I better up my game.

“Where do you see this talking ending up?” she asks.

I laugh. I can’t help it. “You are going to make the best mom for a teenage girl.”

She cracks a smile. “I’ll probably pull out the gun that Drake taught me to shoot and clean it on the porch when the boy pulls up to take her to a movie, just like in that song.”

I laugh harder. “I can picture that. Now what do I want? Yes, I’d like to be more than your friend, but I can see that you’ve got a wall with barbed wire up, at least today. So, for now we’re going the friends route.”

“Actually, I have an electrified fence with razor wire.”

“Good to know what obstacles I’m facing. But this afternoon, I’m here as your friend. Did you call Chloe to go pick up Bella?”

She shakes her head.

“Did you have breakfast or lunch?”

She shakes her head.

“I had breakfast at five this morning. How about I call in a pizza order, and you call Chloe?”

“You do realize you’re a darn bulldozer, right?” she asks me as she picks up her cell phone. “No pineapple, and nothing fungus-y either. Other than that, I’m good with anything.”

“Got it,” I say as I take out my phone.

She takes her cell phone and walks down the hall. I wonder what she’s going to say to her sister. Obviously, it’s something that she doesn’t want me to hear. Or is she even going to mention that I am here? I think I’m the first man that she’s had around her since Bella was born, and if that’s true, her sisters will be all up in her grill to know what’s going on. Yep, she’s lying about why she wants Chloe to watch Bella.

I hate lying. I really do. But sometimes it’s the only thing to do in a situation, and this was one of those times. I close my bedroom door so Simon can’t hear what I’m saying.

“I have a hellish deadline, and one of my headaches has started.”

“Dammit, Trenda, you need to get those checked out. We’ve all told you they’re not normal. You really have migraines.”

“I don’t have migraines,” I tell her firmly. “I’ve looked those up on the internet, and they’re almost debilitating. I refuse to have a headache that will have me lying down in a dark room for twenty-four hours. That’s just unacceptable.”

“Things don’t work that way. You can’t just will away a migraine.”

“Watch me,” I say as I pace back and forth in front of my bed.

“Trenda—”

I stop pacing. “If you want me to go to a doctor so badly, then I’ll make you a deal. You agree to see your old therapist, then I will go see a doctor about my headaches. What about it? Is it a deal?”

“I don’t need to talk to my old therapist. I’m perfectly fine.” Chloe sounds even more defensive than I do.

In my mind, I can see my little sister crossing her arms as she looks down at her cellphone that she has on speaker there in her kitchen.

“And I’m perfectly fine too,” I say. “We’re both perfectly fine. So, are you willing to pick up Bella and take her for the night?”

“Sure. We have everything we need over here for a sleepover. Zarek will swing by early tomorrow so she can get into her school clothes.”