“Who says I even want to hang out with you on Saturday? I might make other plans.”
“With who? The endangered sea crustacean chick? Dan the Douche? His ex? Come on. I'm the only friend you've got in town right now.”
“I just moved here,” Brooke says defensively, but I just shrug my shoulders loosely. Straight-up, I don't know why I'm hounding her anyway, asking her out on a date. I mean, it's not like I'm generally opposed to taking girls out, but never one I've felt this magnetic sort of a connection with. This could be the end of me right here. “Sure, why not? I always loved Arts Alive. It's one of the few things I ever liked about this place.”
“Amen, sister,” I say, reaching out and giving her a tap on the shoulder. Brooke smiles and I toss her a wink, climbing out of the car and heading around to the sliding door to grab Sadie. I carry her inside with the car seat and then get her set up in a wooden high chair.
“Do you think she'll be okay in there while we eat?”
“Bam.” I produce a bag of that Gerber puff cereal crap from Sadie's diaper bag. I Googled how to go to a restaurant with my baby and got all sorts of sweet tips. “Lookie there. Zay plans ahead, Smarty-Pants.”
“Nice move. I'm still figuring all the kid hacks out. My mom gave me a sort of crash course last week, but it didn't even begin to cover everything.” Brooke pauses and flattens her menu out on the table. “Bella's been crying at night.” A pause. “Well, not since you started staying over, but before that. And Grace … has she snuck into the yard to play hide and seek yet?”
“Oh yeah. Twice while you were at work the other night. It's so creepy, total horror movie-esque.”
Brooke laughs.
“Yeah, exactly. I actually get scared to go out there and look for her, like I'm afraid the next time I see her she'll look like the zombie girl from the first episode of The Walking Dead.”
“Ah, I knew it. You like horror stuff? Zombies?”
“Definitely. The darker the better. What about you? I figured since you liked pop music …”
I wave my hand and Sadie giggles. I think she digs all the colors on my arm. I read that babies her age dig movement and bright things. Guess I'm a lot of both, huh?
“I love horror shit. Especially in video game form. You play?”
“I was a huge World of Warcraft girl back in high school.” I lean over and give her a high five. Brooke accepts it with a laugh and smiles. “I haven't had much time to play games since I graduated though. Biostatistics is kind of a tough field. I worked my ass off to get into that masters program at Berkeley.” She looks down at the table for a moment and her eyes flutter with emotion. I feel my own mouth tighten and start getting pissed on her behalf. So not cool. A girl like this, with everything in the world to live for and here she is, cleaning up somebody else's mess.
If I ever see her sister, Ingrid, I might just up and deck her in the face.
“You'll make it,” I say, pretending to shoot a basketball. “Slam dunk. I can just tell.”
“Thanks,” Brooke says with a small laugh, leaning back against the cracked green leather of the booth. I still think she has no idea what she looks like, how her arched brows give her this permanently curious expression, like frames for the bright intelligence of her eyes. Long lashes, full lips, that long dark hair that I haven't had a chance to fully play with yet … Yep. Total package.
I drum my fingers against the tabletop.
“What do you think you'll do with the kids while you're working? After I leave, I mean.”
Brooke shakes her head, giant ponytail flopping.
“No clue. I guess if Monica really does come through tomorrow … and then maybe I can make it until my parents get back from Scotland. My dad isn't going to be able to do much, and I'd hate to put that extra burden on my mom, but if the girls are asleep most of the time, maybe she can handle it?”
“When do they get back?”
“About two and a half weeks from now.” I raise my eyebrows, but I get it. Brooke's dad is sick; this could be her parents' last chance to get away together. “If my mom can't do it, I guess I'll hire a sitter.”
“Not off of Craigslist though, right?” I ask as I point at her with a tattooed finger. The letter E stands up sharply between us. Brooke gives me a sexy little smile and puts her hands on the table, leaning forward enough that I can see straight down her shirt to the lacy gray bra she's wearing. Damn.I feel my cock respond instantaneously, rising up to meet my tight pants with a vigor even I wasn't sure he was capable of. Oooouch. Guess we're both Brooke Overland fans.
I drop my hand to my lap and try to clamp down on the rush of need—literally. I press hard and take a deep breath, pretending that I'm just unfolding my napkin in my lap.
“You didn't really offer to help me because you were worried about me, did you? I mean, you wanted to fuck me, didn't you?”