Page 18 of Beautiful Thing

He pauses for a long moment, his eyes flitting over me in a way that makes me feel self-conscious. Then his gaze bounces back to mine and he nods. “Yeah. Not too bad.”

“I’ll be back at work tomorrow,” I say, feeling guilty. “I just needed today to—”

“Don’t worry about it, Layla,” Archer interrupts. “You take all the time you need to figure out what needs to be figured out.”

My chest rises on a deep breath. “Thank you.”

Our eyes hold and my stomach twirls.

He goes quiet and his gaze flits down my body again. Only then do I look down and realize that I’m still wearing his clothes.Oh shit.

“Uh, sorry,” I say, scrambling to unbutton the shirt. “Sorry. I was feeling a little chilly and I just grabbed this off the couch.Sorry,” I say again. “I didn’t exactly move here with a whole bunch of clothes. So I—”

“It’s not a problem, Layla.” Archer gives his head a subtle shake.

“No, really. I don’t want you to feel like I moved in here and I’m just helping myself to all your stuff.” I continue to wrestle with the buttons. I’m struggling with these shaky fingers of mine.

“Layla!”

My eyes snap up to his.

“Don’t take it off.” His low voice rumbles. “You can wear my shirt. Anytime you want.”

Ooh…

He holds my gaze, not backing down until my hands drop from the buttons and I sink into the couch cushions. “Thank you,” I say meekly.

After a heavy moment, Archer breaks the eye contact. He peeks inside one of his grocery bags. “Sky likes grapes, right?”

The question takes me by surprise.

I pause.

I smile.

“Helovesgrapes.”

My son is a textbook picky eater. Bananas? Sometimes. Avocados? Depends on the day. Green beans? Forget about it. But one thing is for sure—he willalwayseat his grapes.

Archer nods, looking slightly relieved. “I only had time to pick up a few things, as Rainbow was packing down her farmer’s market stand for the day,” he explains as he nods toward his paper bag. “I’ll pass by the grocery store tomorrow for whatever you guys need. Write me a list.”

“You don’t have to do that.” I feel bad. He’s already done too much.

“I know I don’t have to. But Iwantto, so don’t be difficult about it.”

I let out a defeated sigh. “You’re going to force me to let you take care of us, aren’t you?”

A faint smirk passes across his lips. “One hundred percent!”

I shoot him a look, but my chest is so tight right now. I’ve never had someone who wants to take care of me. A bag of grapes shouldn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But it does.Archerdoes.

“Did Razor bother you today?” he asks, scattering those fuzzies at the mention of my ex.

“No. Not at all,” I lie.

Archer knows it.

His gaze narrows on mine. “You’re not lying to me, are you?”

---