seemed fragile, as if she’d shatter if life hit her one more time. I sensed a stern shift in her energy as she lowered her voice. “Can we talk about this later, Ed? Just not in front of my kid?”
Ed’s eyes shifted to Reese, and he gave a pathetic frown. “Yeah, all right. Just get me the money, will you?”
“Will do.”
Reese pulled on Emery’s sleeve. “Mommy, I have money in my piggy bank you can have.”
And just like that, I knew the kid had a heart of gold, even though she was sassy. Emery looked as though she was going to cry from her daughter’s offer.
Before she could reply, Ed looked over to me, and his eyes widened. “Holy shit! You’re Oliver Sm—!”
Emery gripped my arm with her free hand and pulled me closer to her in a protective manner. “Okay, we’ll chat later—bye, Ed!”
The woman handled me better than my own security team.
We hurried out of the front door and headed around the corner. Emery walked up to her car and glanced toward me. “You’re going to have to get out of Dodge before people start realizing that you are in this neighborhood. Ed has a big mouth.”
I rubbed the back of my neck and nodded. “All right. I’m sorry for any trouble I’ve caused.”
She smiled, a genuine curve to her lips, and it was clear that I was wrong—that smile was the best feature on her, not her eyes. Still, her eyes took a very close second.
But those eyes plus that smile? Phenomenal.
After seeing that pairing, something tightened in my gut. A sense of familiarity.
“Thank you for the apology.” She opened the back door of her car and helped her daughter into her booster seat. She turned back to me after closing the car door. Her hands landed on her hips, and she narrowed her eyes as the sun shone directly into her line of vision. “Well, it was nice to meet you. Even though it wasn’t the most normal night of my life.”
I nodded once.
She walked around to the driver’s seat and glanced over toward me. I kept looking up and down the street, trying to familiarize myself with the neighborhood, but of course, I was completely lost.
Emery cleared her throat and tapped the top of her car with the palms of her hands. “Do you need a lift?”
“That would be great,” I breathed out, walking to the passenger door of her car.
She snickered low and shook her head. “Um, I actually meant like, the app, Lyft. Like, the car service where they pick you up. Or even Uber . . .” Her words faded off, because she probably saw how damn idiotic I appeared.
Of course that’s what she meant, Oliver, you dumbass.
“Yeah, right. That’s what I meant. I would, uh, yeah. Okay.”
She must’ve taken pity on me, because she glanced up and down the street, then at her watch. “Or I can drop you off to wherever you’re going.”
I lowered my brows. “You’d do that?”
“Sure. It’s no big deal.”
“I’m sure you’re busy . . .”
“No, she’s not. Mama lost her job at the hotel, so she doesn’t do anything during the day,” Reese said matter-of-factly from her rolled-down window.
Emery’s eyes widened. “How did you know that?”
Reese shrugged. “Heard you talking to Ms. Abigail about it when you dropped me off at her house the other day.”
Emery embarrassedly smiled my way. “Kids have a way of talking too much. But it’s true. My day’s pretty open, so I can give you a ride.”
“I appreciate it.” I went to open the passenger door again, and she held her hand up.
“Whoa, whoa. What do you think you’re doing?”
“I thought you said you’d drive me.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “But after driving you last night, you’ve lost your front-seat privileges. Back seat.”
What did that even mean?
“Now, hurry up, will you? Reese can’t be late.”
She hopped into the driver’s seat. I slipped into the back seat and sat down beside Reese, like a damn child. All that was missing was my booster seat.
“Good God, what’s that smell?” I barked out.
“That, my friend, is the smell of your vomit,” Emery replied.
“I threw up in your car?”
“Yes, and all over me.”
Note to stupid self: you owe this woman a deep cleaning of her car, a houseplant, and probably a million dollars for babysitting your ass.
Every self-hating thought I could muscle up filled my brain all at once. I was shocked Emery hadn’t pushed me out on the curb and left me for the vultures to