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Leo was dragging his feet. He'd be asleep the second she got him in the car.
"I'm not tired," Leo argued, the grumpy note in his voice making that statement a lie. "Can you come over to the house and play, Decker?"
Decker hesitated. "I better go home, buddy. I have some work to do."
"What kind of work?" Leo asked, rubbing his tired eyes.
"I have some boxes to look through," he said.
"Can't you do that tomorrow?" Leo whined.
"Decker has to go," she told Leo. "Get in the car."
Leo gave her an unhappy look but climbed into his car seat. She fastened the seatbelt, then shut the door.
"Sorry to disappoint him," Decker said. "Do you want me to come over?"
She wanted to say yes, but it had been a long day and she had Leo to deal with. "I'd love to spend time with you, but Leo needs to settle down and have some quiet time before bed, so maybe another night."
"That makes sense."
"Are you really going to look through Eleanor's boxes?" she asked curiously.
"I'll see how I feel when I get back."
"How was your bike ride with Joel?"
"It was challenging. We ended up at Hawk's Point."
"That is a steep trail."
"The view was worth it."
"Did you talk to Joel about us?" she asked.
"I told him I was interested in you. I didn't go into detail beyond that."
"Was he angry?"
"No. He didn't think I had much of a chance with you."
She smiled. "You definitely have a chance."
He grinned. "Good."
She licked her lips. They were dancing a little too close to the future, and she was trying not to think too far ahead. As Leo started tapping the window, she said, "I better get him home."
"Okay." He paused, a bright light his eyes. "I can't kiss you goodnight, can I?"
"No. Leo is watching us. Although, I hug a lot of my friends. That wouldn't look odd."
"I'll take it." He gave her a tight hug, whispering into her ear. "Come by the house tomorrow, so I can kiss you again."
"Tomorrow," she echoed, as a shiver ran down her spine at the promise in his eyes.
All of Chloe's plans for Tuesday and Wednesday were derailed by Marian pulling a muscle in her back, requiring Chloe to spend long days at the restaurant. While she sneaked a few quick kisses with Decker when their paths collided at the café, she couldn't find the time to get over to the house during the day, and Decker was spending time with Joel in the evenings.
But on Thursday, Marian came back to work in the afternoon, so Chloe invited Decker over for dinner. When he showed up a little after six, cleanly shaven and smelling incredibly good, she had to restrain herself from running into his arms. Her little boy showed no such restraint, talking a mile a minute about what they were going to play as soon as Decker lifted him up.
