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He raised his brows, but she couldn’t see his eyes behind his aviator glasses. “Can’t you just let people do things without questioning everything?”

“No.”

Jackson laughed and darted around her. “Get used to it if you’re going to be working with me.”

She followed behind as he mounted the back steps and just helped himself into her house. No, her father’s house. This wasn’t hers other than on paper.

“What does that mean?” she demanded as the screen door slammed at her back. “You’re going to do the renovations?”

“It means I’m not completely opposed to more discussions.”

He stared at the brackets and leaned against the counter. When he reached up over his head to unscrew the pieces, his T-shirt came up slightly, giving her a magical glimpse of the side of his abs, and the vee disappearing into his jeans.

She really should have looked away, or replied to . . . what had he said?

“Piper has a birthday party Saturday afternoon. We can talk then. Just come by my house.”

Olivia took a second to process what all he was saying. He wanted her to come by his house . . . when they’d be alone? Did that mean they wouldn’t even be chaperoned by an adorable four-year-old?

“Don’t you have to go to the party?” she asked.

He sat one bracket next to the sink and reached up to remove the other. “I offered, but another mom took pity on me since it’s a spa theme and she didn’t figure I’d want my toes painted.”

Olivia laughed. “Oh, but red would be your color.”

Jackson pulled the last bracket out and laughed. “Well, I’ve had many shades in the past several months. Piper has really taken interest in girlie things. I went to the dollar store and bought some things for her to play with. Makeup and stuff, but I don’t have a clue what I’m buying. I found some sparkly tote to put it all in so that seemed to excite her even more.”

Why did he have to be such a great dad? Jackson may have had a rough hand dealt to him, but he hadn’t once complained, at least not that she’d heard. If anything he acted like he was the most blessed man on earth. He kept Piper and the airport at the top of his priority list. He was faithful, loyal . . . and so damn sexy she was having a difficult time finding a flaw with him.

“I hate not to go to the party, but at the same time, I know she would rather go with a woman,” Jackson went on as he sat the screwdriver and last bracket down. “She loves her best friend’s mom, so she’ll be fine. It’s just difficult sometimes—”

“I’ll take her.”

Where had that come from?

Olivia didn’t know who was more startled at her declaration. Jackson stared at her with his mouth wide open and Olivia rubbed her palms down her pants. She had not given herself permission to say such nonsense. Why on earth would she volunteer to do such a thing?

“You don’t have to do that,” he told her after an awkward moment settled between them. “She’s used to tagging along with another mom at this point.”

“But she shouldn’t have to.”

Shut up, Olivia. You have so many other things to do besides get more involved with the toddler you’ve fallen for.

But she couldn’t let it go. Piper was the sweetest little thing with a mop of curly blond hair on the rare occasion it wasn’t in crazy pigtails, and the image of her in Olivia’s old bibs kept flashing through her mind.

“I could just go as a friend,” she explained, realizing she truly didn’t mind stepping in. “We’ll just explain to Piper that you and I are friends—”

Jackson snorted. “Is that what you call it?”

She quirked her brow and continued. “Friends only and I’ll tell her I need a break and a spa party sounds lovely.”

Jackson narrowed those gorgeous deep brown eyes. “You’re up to something.”

Olivia swallowed. She didn’t want to admit she knew that emptiness of having one parent being around more than the other. Granted Olivia was older, but Piper had a void in her life and try as Jackson might, he couldn’t fill it completely. Not that Olivia was trying to step in as a mother, but she could be a friend to sweet Piper while she was in town.

“I don’t have to,” she told him, leaning against the counter. “I’m just throwing it out there.”

“Are you that desperate to get out of talking to me?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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