AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not long. I can take it down to our tech guys, and then why don’t we all go get lunch? Audrey is meeting me for lunch, and I thought we might as well all go together.”
“That would be great,” Sasha replied. “Audrey and I rarely manage to get together.”
I’d been hoping to steal Sasha away for lunch at my place again, but then I suppose that wouldn’t really work out with Quinn here.
“What time do you need to be back at school?” I asked, looking at Quinn as Dallas left the office to take the laptop to the tech forensics team.
“Mom took me out for the afternoon,” Quinn said with a bright smile. “Can we go to the place where you got those yummy meat pies?”
“Absolutely.”
Quinn’s brow creased. “What if Audrey and Dallas want to go somewhere else?”
“I can vouch that Dallas loves that place too.”
Quinn nodded before her gaze sobered quickly. “I wish my dad wasn’t an idiot.”
Sasha scooted her chair closer to Quinn. She curled her arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick side hug before pressing a kiss to her temple. “I’m sorry, honey. It sounds like he would like to be in touch. Would you like that?”
Quinn glanced at me. “What do you think?”
I almost countered with, “Me?” given how startled I was that she wanted my opinion, especially about an emotionally fraught topic such as this. I looked toward Sasha, trying to gauge if she wanted me to even answer. She nodded encouragingly.
I considered my words and my thoughts judiciously. “I think if your father wants to talk to you, you should consider how you’d feel if you decided not to. If it’s something you think you’ll regret, then give it a chance. You don’t have to do it alone. I know your mom will support you.”
Quinn bit her bottom lip, tracing a circle with her fingertip over her denim-covered knee. “I’ll have to think about it.”
ChapterTwenty-Six
SASHA
Audrey walked down the sidewalk with me after we had lunch. Quinn was busy peppering Dallas and Noah with questions about the FBI, and they were both graciously answering them all.
“How are things with Noah?” Audrey asked.
I tucked my hands in my pockets, tipping my face up and enjoying the sun on this brisk winter day. “Good, I think. Things are moving a little fast.”
“Is that a problem?” she asked when I glanced toward her.
“I’m not sure,” I said slowly. “I’ve known him since we were kids, so I trust him. It’s just, well, I’ve hardly dated. Being a single mom doesn’t make it easy.”
“I bet not,” Audrey said gently. “For what it’s worth, Dallas thinks Noah is in love with you. He says it makes perfect sense that he would fall for you.”
“It does?” This startled me.
Audrey smiled when I slipped my gaze sideways as we walked shoulder to shoulder down the sidewalk. “Yes. Noah’s a great babysitter, and I think the idea of family is really important to him. He’s a little cynical, so falling for someone he already knew makes it easier for him to get past that. I saw him with you at the house at Christmas. It’s obvious he’s totally smitten. I’m not saying moving fast is always good, but it’s not a given that it’s a problem either. That’s the way it happened for Dallas and me.”
“Really?”
We stopped to wait for a light to change, and I glanced over my shoulder to see that Quinn, Noah, and Dallas were moving at a slower pace and still deep in conversation.
Audrey grinned. “Really. As you know, obviously Dallas and I knew each other too. We ended up at my parents’ house unplanned over the holidays. When there’s familiarity, I think you can kind of skip past a lot of the preliminaries.” Her cheeks went a little pink. “We have more than enough chemistry, which seems to be the case for you and Noah,” she teased lightly.
I laughed, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. “Very true.”
Our lunch companions caught up to us. When we began walking again, it felt natural that my hand slipped out of my pocket to find Noah’s.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
