Page 70 of One and Only

“That’s it?” Her face was so heartbroken.

“Ten,” he repeated. “You can draw tomorrow.”

She sighed, obviously disgruntled, and I managed to stifle my laugh.

Beckett’s eyes were warm and happy when they met mine. He stood first, holding out a hand to help me up. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until his fingers curled around mine and I stood, the oxygen pressing from my lungs in a fast, hard whoosh.

Because before he let go, he gave my fingers a slight squeeze, his thumb brushing just once along the inside of my wrist before he let them go.

I didn’t dare search his face to see if it was intentional.

Some friendly little sign like,hey, thanks for being a good enough human that my daughter likes you. Maybe that was it.

Or maybe he had a thing for wrists.

I clenched my teeth and willed the thoughts away. Violently and ruthlessly shoved them back.

This … might be a problem.

Hand holding, in general, did not make me feel light-headed, heart-racing, overthinking type things. Hell, my last boyfriend, six months of my life that I would not get back, never held my hand at all.

He liked touching my ass.

And he had an unfortunate penchant for staring atotherwomen’s asses, in the end, but there was no casual gesture like that.

I found myself rubbing the spot where his thumb had brushed as we left the bedroom. He pulled the door shut behind him. “What’s up?” he asked.

“I had a text from Josie when I was downstairs.”

His eyebrows furrowed.

“She forgot to tell us earlier that she thinks her impending move to London is causing some nightmares for Olive. Apparently, she had a few this week.”

He sighed, glancing back at the room. “She’s done this before,” he said. “Before she started school for the first time. She was terrified. Woke up almost every night.”

I sucked in a breath, blowing it out through puffed cheeks. “Umm, Josie also said that Olive would likely just climb into bed with us if she woke up with one of those nightmares.”

Beckett’s entire frame went almost comically still.

His eyes locked onto mine.

After a moment, I nodded meaningfully. “Might be hard to explain if she tells Josie that I sleep in a different bedroom.”

His throat moved on a hard swallow.

“So,” I said. “That’s the update.”

Beckett’s jaw ticked.

His silence made me edgy, so naturally, I couldn’t shut up. “It’ll be fine. It’s a big bed.”

At his side, his hand clenched in a fist.

I exhaled in a huff. “I know, I know, it’s not ideal. You hate change and surprises, and now you have to share your bed with your wife who you do not find even remotely attractive.”

“Don’t put words into my mouth, Greer,” he cut in. “That’s not what I said.”

His voice, so low and rough and charged, had my mouth going dry.

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