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“If you need anything, call me.”
“I don’t have your number.” I never needed it. If I needed to talk to one of her brothers, they showed up at the house, or Gia texted them.
“How is that possible?” Leo asked as he shifted his stance to pull out his phone. “Put your number in, and I’ll send it to you. Then you can text me to tell me you got home okay. I won’t be able to sleep until you do.”
That was—I swallowed—I couldn’t even describe it. I took his phone and, with shaky hands, inputted my number and name and saved it to his contacts. “You’ve got it now.”
His fingers flew over the keys, and my phone inside my purse buzzed with an incoming message. “Now you’ve got mine. Don’t forget to let me know you got home safely.”
“Will do,” I said.
He leaned down, and, for a few exhilarating seconds, I thought he was going to kiss me. Instead, his lips brushed over my forehead. “Brava.”
It was sweet and had my insides fluttering.
He winked as if he knew the effect he had on women and closed the door softly so he wouldn’t wake Evie.
He watched me drive away, and my crush morphed into something far more sophisticated.I liked him.My attraction had only grown. I had to remember he was just a good guy. He wasn’t attracted to me. I was just his younger sister’s best friend. An extension of Gia. Not an attractive woman he could see himself with.
Four
LEO
Carrying Evie had been this warm, comforting weight against my chest, but my heart had filled with love at the sight of her face soft with sleep, her lashes spread over her cheeks. Evie was so full of life when I spent time with her, but tonight, she’d been adorable in sleep. She made me long for a child of my own.
Tenderness washed over me, along with this overwhelming need to protect Evie and Harper. Tonight was the first chance we had to spend any measurable amount of time together. It had opened a host of thoughts I’d never had before, like the way Harper’s dress hugged her curves and how I’d wanted to brush her hair off her neck and kiss the soft skin of her shoulder. Was she having a similar reaction to me?
I’d told her she was the most beautiful thing there was in Italian because it was how I felt, and it was safer to say it in a language she didn’t understand. I wasn’t sure she’d welcome my feelings.
I hadn’t noticed any change in her demeanor. Except, when she’d stepped away from our dance, she couldn’t manage to meet my gaze. Was she hiding her reaction, and if so, why?
I pushed thoughts of Evie and Harper out of my head as I drove to the home I’d bought in an older neighborhood. It had been a responsible purchase, cheaper because it needed work. But I wondered if I’d bought it because my parents thought it was the right thing to do, not because I liked it for myself.
I hadn’t started on the renovations because I worked long hours at the restaurant. Papà always said not to hire someone to do work that we could do ourselves. When was I going to start living my life on my terms?
If I wanted to make a change in my life, to meet someone who had the potential to be a girlfriend, and possibly even my wife, I needed to make my home welcoming.
I pulled into the garage, pushing the button to close the door behind my SUV. The garage itself was cluttered, full of things left behind by the previous owners. Inside, I saw the house in a different light. How would a woman see it? There was a narrow kitchen that faced the woods. The living room had dark wood paneling and worn furniture I’d inherited from my parents, and the dining room was empty.
I needed to clean out the garage, renovate the kitchen and bathrooms, and buy new furniture that reflected my personality, not my parents’. We were raised to be frugal, but I was tired of living my life to please my parents. I was ready for something different.
I plopped onto the couch and flipped on the TV, searching for a ball game. I loved having it on in the background, even if I wasn’t paying attention to every play.
What would Harper think if she saw my place? Then I wondered why it mattered what she thought. If Evie came here, it wasn’t childproofed. God knew what was stored in the garage and the basement.
Unfortunately, I worked most days of the week. I only had one full day off, and I usually found myself stopping by to check on the restaurant. My parents were hard workers and instilled the same in their children.
My phone buzzed with an incoming message.Harper.
Harper: I got home okay. Evie’s sleeping in her bed. Thank you for the ride and for helping me with Evie.
Leo: You don’t need to thank me.
Now that I’d talked to Harper, I’d gotten the impression she felt indebted to my family, and that didn’t sit right with me. She was like family to me. She shouldn’t feel like she owed us anything. At the same time, I didn’t like thinking of her as family, either.
If I’d met her outside of the restaurant and she wasn’t Gia’s friend, would I have pursued her? I was clearly attracted to her physically. I’d never dated a woman with a child, but I loved Evie. It didn’t detract from Harper at all; it only enhanced my opinion of her. She was strong, hardworking, and a great mom.
I would have been attracted to her if she came into the restaurant to eat or grabbed a pizza to go. I would have flirted with her for months before finally asking her out because I wouldn’t want to push a single mother. I would have eased her into the idea of me.
