Page 19 of My Ex-Best Friends

“Blame her crazy Aunt Patty.” I grinned. “God knows Mom blamed Aunt Karlene for every bad thing I did.”

“You’re good with kids.” Noah had leaned over the island and lowered his voice. He held a cup of coffee in his hands and sighed when he saw me eyeing it. “Take it. Something I learned when we had her was that my things were no longer mine.”

I took his cup and took a long gulp. “Oh, that’s good. I needed that. Thanks, Dad.”

His eyes heated. “Really, Brooke?”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Sorry!”

Sinclair tapped my arm. “Did you get one of those for me?”

I picked up both chocolates and pretended to be in deep thought. “Well, you did steal my pancake…”

“I’ll never do it again!”

I felt an almost immediate warmth towards the little girl. She couldn’t be over six and she already had such a big personality. “Fine. I’ll share. It’s a trade, though. I give you one chocolate now and one tomorrow but I don’t have to give you a coke.”

She thought about it. “How about you give me one chocolate today and a coke tomorrow?”

I snorted. “Kid, you need to go back to school. That’s the worst bargaining I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s the summer!” She looked at me like I’d suggested she skin her dad alive. “Fine. I’ll take the chocolates. Daddy will buy me a coke anyway.”

Noah grunted. “This is fun.”

I slid her one of the chocolates and held my fist out for her to bump it. “I like you, kid. You’re smarter than your dad was at your age.”

She giggled and worked at shoving the chocolate into her mouth. Noah helped her unwrap it and then we both lost her as she focused on eating the kiss one little nibble at a time.

“What are you two doing today?”

He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter opposite me. “Not sure yet. It’s nearly impossible to keep up with her likes these days so I just fly by the seat of my pants most times. You?”

I sat up with a bit of pride, the first I’d felt in too long to think about. “Aunt Karlene helped me get a job doing a mural on the side of the hardware store. For tourism, I guess, so I have to come up with something to attract tourists. I’m tempted to just paint shirtless men and call it a day. This town seems to be in no short supply of them.”

“Do you need child labor? I happen to know a child.”

I grinned down at Sinclair, who was still nibbling away at her kiss. “You know what? Sure. Child labor seems great. As long as you’re there. Jesus, don’t trust me alone with your kid. Talkabout flying by the seat of my pants… I love kids but I haven’t exactly spent a lot of time around them.”

“If you wanted to spend time with me, you just had to say so, B.” Winking, he walked around the island and stopped between me and Sinclair. Glancing back at me, his eyes danced with humor. “Do you need a shirt to paint in? I’d hate for you to ruin that top.”

I glanced down at where he could definitely see down the loose, flowy shirt and sighed. “Pervert.”

17

***Noah***

Istared at the grown woman and little girl wearing my clothing as they stared up at a big, blank wall. Sitting in a lawn chair off to the side, I stayed out of their way and admired the view. Sinclair was adorable in an old shirt of mine, the ends of it nearly tripping her every other step. Brooke was something else entirely, not exactly what I’d call adorable. The shirt was snug across her ample chest but it was way too big everywhere else. It hung down to her thighs until she tied it in a knot at her waist. She then bent down and did the same move to Sinclair’s.

There was a bucket of paint at their feet and Brooke had made sure to get an extra paint roller for Sinclair. Sinclair was a ball of excitement but Brooke seemed nervous as she struggled to open the paint and pour it into the pans the hardware store had provided. She’d glance up at the wall every so often and just stare at it with a haunted look on her face. I would’ve called her on it if Sinclair wasn’t there.

I had to be careful. Sinclair was clearly already head over heels for Brooke and I knew that if I acted too flirty she’d start to get big ideas in her little head. Since Kelly had remarried Sinclair had been obsessed with the idea of me getting married, too. I was mostly sure that it was just the wedding part that excited her but I didn’t want to hurt her. Especially if Brooke left again.

That thought left a sour taste in my mouth and turned my fond stare a bit harder when I watched my old friend.

Brooke stepped back and kicked off her boots. “Alright. This is when we save our most precious belongings. These boots? They fit like they were made just for me and I’d rather stub my toe a hundred times than ruin them. We also tie our hair up now because paint in our hair can be cute for a bit but getting it out isn’t.”

Sinclair kicked off her sneakers and looked back at me. “I need my hair up, Daddy!”

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