Page 63 of That One Heartbreak

“Does she know about Marley?”

“No. But she’s found every bit of chipped paint and dented dry wall in the house. She’s making a honey-do-list for any man that comes in shouting distance. So I’d prefer she doesn’t know about him, thank you very much.”

“I bet he’d do it. And if you asked him nicely, he’d probably take his shirt off for you to watch while he did.”

Kate let out a low breath, the memory of his chest against her fingers making her body heat up. Damn, he was hard everywhere. All those ripples and dips. She wriggled her fingers.

“Mommy! I think I swallowed a LEGO head!” Addy shouted from the kitchen.

Kate winced because her kids were a walking ER visit right now. “I’ve got to go.”

“Okay, but we need to meet for coffee. Soon.”

“I’ll see you at church tomorrow. And at the diner after.”

“I meant alone. Where people aren’t listening.” Shana was almost certainly rolling her eyes right now.

“It’s a deal. Now I really have to go. I may need to do the Heimlich maneuver on my kid.”

“So,” Marley’s mom said, as he lay on his back on her cool kitchen floor, his hands tightening up the U bend under the sink. “I heard you spent the night at Kate Connelly’s last night.”

He lifted his head and bashed it on the underside of the cabinet. “Shit.” He winced. So that’s why she’d called him over to check the pipe for her earring, which she swore must have fallen off when she was washing the dishes.

And with his dad away for the weekend it had come down to him to sort it out.

“I didn’t spend the night anywhere but my own bed,” he grunted, touching his brow. “Not that it’s anybody’s business.”

“But your truck was at her house all night.”

Jesus Christ. Why hadn’t he moved to a larger city when he had the chance? He got to his knees, wiping his hands on the towel his mom passed to him. “Are you sure you lost that earring here?”

She gave him a smile. “It might have been in the bathroom sink.”

He shook his head. “I’m not unscrewing that U bend too. I’ll buy you another damn earring.”

“Or it may be in my jewelry box. I probably should have looked there first.” Her smile was wider now, and damn if he wasn’t smiling too. His mom was terrible at lying. She didn’t have a devious bone in her body.

Or at least he hadn’t thought she did. Until now.

“There’s nothing going on,” he told her, because he needed to nip the rumors in the bud before they started. For Kate’s sake. “She’s a friend. I like her kids. That’s it.”

His mom caught his eye. Thank God he was a better liar than she was. “Oh. I just wondered…”

“You don’t need to wonder. If there’s any news I want you to know about my love life, I’ll tell you.” He lifted a brow. “When I’m ready.”

“I’ve seen how you look at her.”

He tipped his head to the side. “How do I look at her?”

“Like you used to look at Ariel when you were a little kid and insisted on watching it every night.”

“I never watchedThe Little Mermaid. That was Pres.”

“It was?” She frowned. “Well, you two are identical. So it’s the same expression, anyway.”

Marley started to laugh. “Mom, I don’t look at Kate like that. Yes, I like her. She’s a good woman who’s been dealt a really shitty hand.”

“And Paul was your friend.”

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