Page 22 of Beautiful Thing

Instead, I grab Sky out of her arms again. He immediately reaches for my beard, plucking at it in fascination. I snatch his curious, little hand and pretend to bite his pudgy fingers.

Sky’s happy giggles bring a faint smile to Layla’s lips. She shivers, climbing behind the wheel to start the engine. But when she swears under her breath again, I glance at her dashboard and see that her gas tank is onempty.

I can tell that she’s embarrassed. And frustrated.I just want to make it better.

“We’ll take my truck?” I suggest casually. “No use in taking two cars, especially since we’re going to the same destination.”

Layla frowns as she turns her key over in the ignition. “But I have to drop Sky off at daycare first. You’ll be late for work. Late opening up the store.” She peers up at me with those pretty brown eyes.

I ignore the way my skin tingles when she looks at me. “I told you—the hardware store can wait. No one’s lining up down the block, waiting to buy wire cutters this early. Trust me.”

She blows out a heavy breath. “Archer—”

I don’t want to hear it. “Let me make sure that you and Sky are okay,” I insist. “We’ll carpool.”

Her shoulders sink in defeat. “All right. Okay.”

Layla climbs out of the driver’s seat and leans into the back to grab Sky’s car seat. But I stop her with a hand on her shoulder and pop open the back door of my vehicle.

“Is this the right car seat?” I ask, motioning to the contraption that’s already strapped into the back of my truck. “Not too big?”

Layla blinks at the infant seat. Then she blinks again. “Sorry?”

“This car seat. Is it the right size for Sky? I know that car seats go by height, and I’m not sure how tall little man is so—”

“You bought my son a carseat?” Her words come out shaky. Slow.

“Well, technically, I didn’t buy it. We have them in stock at the hardware store.”

She whimpers, her eyes starting to fill with water.

I grow uncomfortable as I try to explain my reasoning. “I figured that while you’re here, I might as well put one in my truck just in case.”

She teeters a bit, her knees going weak where she stands in the driveway staring into my truck. “There’s a car seat in your truck…for my son…”

“Well…yeah,” I say, feeling unsure of what I did to upset her.

She swallows. “You put acar seatinyour truckformy son…” she repeats.

“Not a big deal.”

She puffs out a laugh. “Razor tried driving Sky around without a carseat, insisting that nothing would happen because he’s a safe driver. He would have just left the poor child rolling around in the back, if I hadn’t caught him.”

I hold back an angry growl.Razor’s such a waste of space.

Meanwhile, Layla’s losing her battle against those tears gathering in her eyes. “Thank you,” she says, wiping at her wet cheeks and putting on a smile. “Say ‘thank you’, Sky.”

The little guy grins at me, bouncing in my arms. “Ta-kou!”

Layla and I both laugh.

“You’re welcome, little guy.” I stroke his chubby cheek that’s already turning red from the cold.

We all get into my vehicle and the scent of Layla’s mango shampoo surrounds me, but I try to ignore that. Instead, I make sure everyone’s all buckled up before we head off toward Sky’s daycare. As I pull out of the yard, my chest is full of emotions.

I’m liking this.

I’m liking this little domestic routine that’s unfolding this morning with Layla and Sky. Too much.

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