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I had no idea. Were there rules in a case like this? Did I care?
I rang the bell, and it chirped in response.
“Come on in.” Brooke’s voice seemed to filter from nowhere.
I pushed inside the house to find her on the couch, her foot propped up on pillows and her phone in hand.
“New doorbell?” I asked.
“Paige and Bryan decided I needed a remote control one with a camera, if I was going to be home alone and immobile for two weeks.”
That was cool. “Super smart.”
“Especially since they’ve been asking to install one for a while now, and this gave them the excuse they needed.” Brooke scooted into a sitting position.
I moved the pillows under her leg to rest at her new spot. “I would’ve taken the chance too if I were them.”
She shook her head. “Don’t tell them that. If I let them have their way, my entire house would besmart. I don’t need my fridge to know more about its contents than I do.”
“A problem easily solved by storing nothing but condiments, beer, and enough milk for cereal and coffee. Do you want this now or later?” I held up the pizza box.
“You’re such a bachelor,” Brooke teased. “Or rather, you put up a good front. I know what the contents of Deacon’s fridge were pre- and post-Adam. And I would love some pizza now. I don’t know if it’s good or bad that Paige hasn’t built me a robot yet to make me lunch.”
“You don’t need a robot, you’ve got me. Multipurpose, I don’t need batteries, and I vibrate at infinite frequencies.”
Brooke’s laugh was light. “I’ll have to try out some other settings when I’m up to it.”
Fuck yes she would. “Don’t go anywhere.”
She raised her brows.
I vanished into the kitchen long enough to find plates and grab us each a few slices of pizza. “I really am happy to bring you lunch every day,” I said when I returned to the living room.
“I’m not sure if that’s innuendo or not.” She took a plate from me.
I sat on the couch near her feet. “It wasn’t, but only because I need you to recover as quickly as possible, so it can be.” Reservations or not, apparently I was all-in on this flirting-with-Brooke thing.
And the pink on her cheeks that colored her smile implied she didn’t mind. “I’m going to have a hard time turning down an offer like that.”
“Then it’s a date. Or a dozen of them.” I grinned.
We spent the afternoon talking, until her kids got home from school.
“Ooh, did you come over to help me with my bike?” Paige asked.
I glanced at Brooke.
“He came over to bring me pizza,” she said.
Bryan huffed. “And we had to eat school food?”
“You were excited this morning that it was Taco Tuesday.We don’t need extra money for lunch, Mom.” Brooke’s voice deepened in what I assumed was a Bryan impersonation. “We’ll have tacos for lunch, Mom.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “That you think for even a moment that school lunch tacos are on the same level as Gia’s Deep Dish makes me wonder if you’re the same woman who raised us.”
“There are leftovers in the fridge.” I gestured toward the kitchen, then glanced at Brooke. “Unless that’s going to ruin their dinner?” I didn’t want to step on any toes.
Brooke twisted her mouth. “I’m not sure if you remember being seventeen, but it takes a lot more than a slice or two of pizza to ruin their appetites.”
