Page 26 of Restorations

Not to me.I only think it though. “No. I’m fine. Do you have anything for me to do today?” I desperately want to change the subject.

Lola is truly my best friend, an unlikely match, considering we met when I had already had Baz and had to tell Colt’s family he fathered a child right before he died. I don’t like telling her, and I also don’t think it’s appropriate.

She studies me but seems to be trying to stay out of things a little more these days and drops it. “Can Asher watch Sebastian today?”

That’s not a weird request. I work for Lola, and Asher is used to babysitting Baz. My throat goes dry just thinking about asking Asher for a favor. “Well, Sebastian is with Sawyer now.”

“What?” She smiles into the question but is clearly surprised.

“Yeah. He stopped by to bring him a present and ended up taking him to check out a house.”

She laughs. “Well, he’ll probably go into real estate, so it’s a good start.” She’s joking, but it’s not totally out of the question for that to be his career path either.

“True. I just hope he’s behaving.”

She waves that off. “Oh, Sawyer can handle him.”

“They’re supposed to be back in an hour and that was about an hour ago though. I can always ask Nora to watch him if you have work for me to do.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Why? Is Asher not home?”

“I’m here.” Shit. My entire body tenses at the sound of his deep voice coming from behind me.

I don’t turn to look at him, and I know Lola picks up on that. She catches everything. She passes me and walks to her brother, her voice calm and light. “Can you watch Baz this afternoon?”

My heart is racing, thinking about the shower and then afterward, the things he said. And now his sister is asking him to watch my son. I know he loves Baz and will never hurt him, but still, this is awkward.

“Yeah. No problem.” I turn to look at him, the sight almost painful. He’s not smiling, but he’s keeping his brooding to aminimum as he turns away from Lola and focuses on me. “When is Sawyer bringing him back?”

I clear my throat, trying to appear normal. I don’t want to discuss this with Lola. It’s too humiliating. “About an hour.”

He nods, totally casual as he walks to the table and grabs an apple from the bowl of fruit there. “Sounds good. I don’t have any plans today.”

He crunches into the apple and walks past me. “Thank you.” My voice is weak.

“No problem.” His eyes darken only slightly, but I don’t miss it as he walks out of the room, leaving my heart rate accelerated and my hands clammy.

“Oh no.”

Oh. No. I turn to look at Lola, who brushes my hair away from my neck and looks at the hickey on my neck. “Lola . . .”

I don’t want to talk about this.

She removes her hand from my hair, and I can tell she’s in a battle with herself. “Sawyer?”

She sounds almost hopeful. My eyes flutter, fighting to close and disappear, but I shake my head and look her straight in the eye. “No.” I rethink that. “Well . . . maybe. Shit.” She looks confused, one eyebrow raised. “It could have gotten worse from Sawyer this morning.”

Yeah. She thinks I'm a slut. Of course, she does. I kind of am. “Oh.”

Her pouty mouth forms an “O”.

I want to die.

“But it’s also from Asher?” She asks the question cautiously.

I nod my head. “From last night.” I groan, covering my eyes with both hands. “Oh, Jesus. You must think I'm a whore.” I drop my hands and look at her. “I am. My God. I don’t know what I'm doing. Every time I think I have things figured out . . .” I’m at a loss for words, and Lola takes both of my hands in hers.

“Stop that. Okay? You are not a whore.”

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