Page 3 of A Little Love

Afraid she would notice that he had fallen behind, Nolan hurried to catch up. He looked at that pink stripe in her hair and the makeup that was beginning to look less Goth-like and more club-like with every passing second. It would be years, if ever, before he got the memory of that tattoo out of his head.

“And just think,” she was saying, as she reached the top and spun to face him again. “You might be new in town, but you’re not a stranger. You already know one resident.” ‘Little’ was all over the way she tucked one hand behind her back, raising the other to give him a wave that was equal parts shyness and welcome. “Me.”

Daddy’s Little. He couldn’t possibly get that lucky.

Fighting hard to keep from feeling like she was a target he needed to lock into sights, he came up to the top of the stairs and stopped, just one down from where she was standing. That brought him eye-level with her breasts, but he kept his gaze on her face and steadfastly refused to look any lower. “Maybe once I get this place up to snuff, I’ll invite you and your husband over for dinner.”

“Oh.” Those soft grey eyes of hers both lit and averted. She bit her bottom lip and, as if suddenly realizing they might be standing a little too close because she was blocking his way, she stepped back. “That’s very Mayberry, too.”

“I guess I’ll fit right in.” Because she’d opened the avenue, he slipped past her, leading the way back through the living room, past the painting and the diminishing aggression of the locked up wasps to the front door.

“I’m not married,” she confided, taking the bait as she trailed along behind him.

“What a coincidence,” he quipped, and held open the door. “Neither am I. Watch your step. I expect this porch to go any minute.”

“Thank you.” Slipping out of her heels, Tricia avoided the worst of the soft spots as she picked her way to the stairs. “Maybe I could meet you and your girlfriend for coffee sometime.”

“I don’t recall seeing a café on our drive into town.”

“Probably because we don’t have one.” She laughed. “But upon occasion, Kay’s Gas Station does a fair approximation of what good coffee should be.”

“Upon occasion?”

Reaching the bottom of the steps, she bent to put her heels back on. “The rest of the time it tastes a little burnt, but it’ll keep a trucker awake all day and all night long. On second thought, my kitchen’s always open. Maybe once you’re all moved in, you’dlike to come over sometime? Bring your girlfriend,” she said pointedly. “I’d love to meet her.”

Nolan tsked, coming down the stairs just behind her. “No girlfriend,” he said, as if it were a pity. Seven years ago, it had been, but time as they say was the ultimate healer. At least he could talk about Jesse now without getting too upset. “Military man,” he explained. “She didn’t seem to mind it when I was stationed in the States, but after three tours overseas, she got a little tired of being the only person sleeping in my bed.” His smile felt a little flat, but at least he could smile. His therapist would say that was progress. Nolan also shrugged. “I guess I can’t blame her.”

“Three tours?” she echoed, for the first time not smiling at all. “What branch were you?”

“Army all the way. Hooah.”

“Thank you for your service,” she said sincerely.

That was unexpected.

“I’ve been home two months,” he said, not knowing how else to reply.

She lifted one shoulder in the slightest of shrugs. “Thank you anyway.”

He opened, then closed his mouth, and finally managed, “You’re welcome.”

They walked together across the mostly dandelion and clover lawn, but branched off in opposite directions, each heading for their own car. He would have loved to have walked her to hers, but that wasn’t something clients were supposed to do with their real estate agents. He’d already looked up her skirt and although she didn’t know about that, he didn’t want to come across as creepy.

It was probably just as well. She wasn’t married, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have just as strong an attachment to somehitherto unknown boyfriend or Dom. Whoever ‘Daddy’ was, Nolan couldn’t help feeling just a little envious.

“I’ll follow you?” he called to Tricia as they both unlocked their cars.

She nodded, beckoning with a wave before she tucked her skirt demurely and got into her car. He gave the house another once over, already partially convinced that he must be either crazy or desperate, because surely no one would touch a house like this without meeting one or both criteria. He was almost glad Tricia didn’t linger, giving him any time to change his mind. When her brake lights winked on, he quickly started his car, checking the non-existent traffic over his shoulder before pulling out into the street just behind her.

She drove all of twenty feet before pulling into her own driveway.

Unable to help it, Nolan started laughing when he saw her get out again. She was grinning, that same, slightly blushing grin she’d given him on the stairs right before he’d glimpsed ‘Daddy’s Little’ beneath her skirt.

She waved him in to park at the curb. “Come on in. I’ll make coffee.”

Watching her walk up the neatly manicured sidewalk to her front door, he shook his head. Yeah, whoever ‘Daddy’ was, he was one lucky man.

Chapter Two

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