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“I’m sure you’re not but you need to eat.”
“I will at lunch.”
“You need to eat now,” he argues.
“Is this weird for anyone else?” Dayton asks.
Miles chuckles while Hazel laughs.
“Just asking.” He mutters and I imagine that if I looked up at Clay, I’d see him glaring at Dayton.
“I think it’s sweet.” Hazel shrugs.
Miles looks over at her. “You think it’s sweet?”
“Yes.”
“If I ever told you that you need to eat, you’d lose your shit.”
“Probably, but I still think it’s sweet that Clay is trying to take care of his girl.”
“Whatever,” Miles mutters.
I look between the two of them. Honestly, they look like they would be perfect together, like they would just make sense, which makes me curious about why they are no longer together.
“Here.” Clay holds out a piece of toast to me. “Don’t argue just eat it while I go get dressed.” He drops a kiss to my mouth then takes off.
I watch him walk to the bedroom, then with a sigh, I take a bite of the toast in my hand because he’s probably right. I should eat something even if I don’t really want to.
“So El, how long are you in town for?” Dayton asks.
“I head back to Colorado tomorrow,” she says, resting her hand on the back of Winter’s head and that’s when I catch the glitter of a diamond on her ring finger.
“Darn I was hoping I’d have a drinking partner this weekend.”
“Sorry, I wish I could stay, but I have an open case on my desk that’s sucking up all my time.”
“Where do you work?” I ask her and she looks at me then over at Miles, which is a strange thing to do for such a simple question.
“She works for the FBI,” Miles says.
I blink. “Really?” I look at her. I don’t know why that news shocks me, but it does. Maybe because in my head FBI agents are bald guys in dark suits like I see around the president.
“I do.” She smiles.
“Wow, that’s awesome.”
“I think so too,” she agrees.
Miles grunts.
“Ready?” Clay asks, coming out of the room dressed in a pair of jeans and a hooded sweatshirt with a baseball cap on his head. After seeing him dressed to ride his motorcycle, shirtless in just sweats, in a suit at my bank and now this, I don’t know my favorite look on him. Who am I kidding, the guy could wear a paper sack and I’d think he was attractive, but him shirtless and sleepy is by far my favorite.
“Babe,” he mutters.
I snap out of my thoughts and chug the rest of my coffee as everyone laughs.
“Sorry.” I grab my purse from where it’s resting on the counter before I look at Hazel. “It was nice meeting you.”
“You, too, and I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah.” I smile then look at Miles. “I’ll see you this evening.”
“You will.”
“Bye, sweetheart,” Dayton says.
I give him a wave then get Winter’s attention. “I’ll see you later.”
“Can we have our ice cream party tonight?” She holds her hands up and looks between Clay and me.
“Not tonight kid, but tomorrow I’ll pick you up from school and we’ll go to the store and pick everything up,” Clay tells her.
“Aww please?” she begs.
“You and I have a date this evening,” Hazel tells her, kissing the top of her head. “We’re getting our nails done.”
“Can I choose any color I want?”
“Yes,” her mom says.
Winter narrows her eyes. “Even black?”
“Why do you need black nails?” Miles asks her.
“Because it’s going to be Halloween, and black is my favorite color.”
“Technically, black isn’t a color,” Dayton says.
Winter rolls her eyes at him.
“You can get whatever you want,” Hazel tells her as I walk toward the door where Clay is waiting for me then listen to him say goodbye before he takes my hand and leads me to the elevator.
When we get outside a few minutes later he opens the door of his Jeep for me and I climb in, then watch him walk around the hood and get in behind the wheel.
“So, what is the story with Miles and Hazel?” I ask as soon as he starts the engine, and he glances over at me.
“It didn’t take you long to ask.”
“I’m curious, it seems like they get along and they obviously have a great co-parent relationship.”
“They used to work together and were friends.” He starts the engine then pulls out onto the road. “And since they got along so well, they figured they’d be good in a relationship.”
“But they weren’t?”
“No.” He reaches over for my hand. “Miles is as laid back as they come but he also likes control, and Hazel wasn’t down with giving him that.”
“How old was Winter when they broke up?”
“She wasn’t born.” He squeezes my fingers. “They’ve gotten back together a few times over the years, but it’s never lasted long.”
