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“As if I would be slick enough to take advantage.” I rolled my eyes.
“You underestimate yourself.” His low tone sent heat skating over my skin.
“What do you mean? I’m barely treading water in this, you know? I haven’t had much of a social life, and even less of a dating life.”
“Because you’ve been busy being a mom.” He dipped his chin. “As you should be. Quinn is delightful, and it’s obvious she loves you.”
Many men didn’t know all you had to do to get a single mother to swoon was say something like that. My pride for Quinn ran deep. I loved her fiercely and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy. To have someone notice what a great kid she was, well, it warmed my heart in the best possible way.
I swallowed. “Thank you. Obviously, I love her to pieces.” Anxiety suddenly struck a discordant chord in my heart. “How worried do we need to be about whatever this investigation is?”
He reached across the table, curling his hand over mine. “I want to tell you that you don’t need to worry, but that would be a lie. I can tell you the investigation has nothing to do with violence. White collar crime is rather mundane. It can ruin lives, but only by screwing with people’s financial stability. I’m mostly worried about making sure no one steals her identity. Separate from that, I’m obviously worried that her father doesn’t hurt her, emotionally speaking.”
I took a quick breath and nodded. “Okay. Dallas will keep you up to speed?”
Noah had already explained he couldn’t stay on the investigation because of his connection to Quinn. “Of course. I’ll be there tomorrow when you two come by the office.”
“Good.”
Just then, Norma arrived with our check. Her eyes dropped to where our hands were joined and resting on the table. “You be good to her, Noah,” she said with a kind smile.
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing when Noah looked up at her. “Sasha told me she thought you were protective. You know I wouldn’t bring anyone here who I didn’t completely trust. We grew up together in Haven’s Bay in Maine. It’s been a while, but you don’t need to worry.”
Norma’s cheeks plumped up with her smile when she looked at me. “I had a good feeling about you, and I told my Norm I thought Noah had a tendre for you.”
I smiled, ignoring the heat flaring in my cheeks. “Well, thank you. That’s good to know,” I finally said.
Norma set the check down on the table. “I hope the food was good.”
“It was delicious. I’m so glad Noah brought me here.” She set down a paper bag containing the takeout we had ordered for Quinn. “I hope your daughter enjoys it too. Noah, you come back soon.” She squeezed his shoulder before she hurried off.
I looked over at him. “Norma and Norm?”
He flashed a quick grin. “Yup. Go figure. I guess it was meant to be.”
A few minutes later, we were back in the car, and he was deftly navigating through the late evening traffic when he spoke. “I hope you know how much you mean to me.”
His eyes flicked to mine briefly, the look there hot enough to singe me. It also held an intensity of emotion I didn’t know how to interpret. My heart thrashed inside my chest, and my mouth went dry. I swallowed, taking the moment to absorb his profile, the clean strong lines. I loved him. The pure truth struck me. It felt as if a bracing gust of wind lifted me, and my feet slammed to the ground as I stumbled from the force.
“What do you mean?” I finally asked, my voice coming out a little ragged.
His hand reached across the console, lacing his fingers into mine. “I mean, Sasha, that I’m falling for you. I already told you that, but I don’t think you believed me.”
“It feels rushed like it doesn’t make sense. I told you my life isn’t all fun and games. I don’t know how you can know that until there’s been at least a few teenage meltdowns, and I’m stressing about bills.”
His gaze slid to mine again, and he shook his head just slightly. “Sasha, we’ve known each other for years. Maybe we lost touch, but it’s not like this is fresh. I get it. We don’t have to hurry. I’ll wait for a few teenage meltdowns, and you can stress about bills. Although I wish you wouldn’t. If you need help—”
I cut him off fast. “I don’t need you to ride into my life and make it easy. It’s important to me that I can support Quinn and myself.”
“I know.” His fingers squeezed mine.
My heart kept pounding as we rode the rest of the way home in silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, more of a potent silence.
When Noah approached the house, I said, “You could park in the driveway behind my car if you want.”
I felt his smile before I even saw it. Glancing over, I laughed when he said, “I was wondering if I still had permission. Quinn gave it to me, but you hadn’t yet.”
I was absorbing his words when he put his car in park and cut the engine. When he turned to me, the look in his eyes was fierce. My belly swooped, and need throbbed at the apex of my thighs.
