“You’re fine.”
She chuckled. “That’s my job. Listening while others unbottle their problems. I think you have better things to do.”
“Than make sure you feel better?” His forehead bunched. “Shit, no.” The front door of Nuts and Bolts jingled. “Hang on a second. I wasn’t expecting anyone right now.”
Noah stepped into the reception area, and Teagan peeked out as he greeted Augie Kensington. They spoke for a moment then disappeared after Noah grabbed a set of keys off the wall and went outside.
Teagan used the time alone to open her purse and take out a compact, check her smeared eye makeup, and fix it as best she could. She heard the men come back and a transaction finalize before Noah came back in.
“Before you know it, this place will be slammed.” She put her compact back in her purse and dropped it on the floor.
“That guy has a nice ride,” Noah said. “So far I’ve tuned up pickup trucks and minivans.”
“Well, pencil in a Subaru in the next couple weeks.”
“As long as Will can come by and help. I promised him he could work on your car.”
Every ounce of her wanted to hug him. Forget the sexy man and all his muscles that leaned against the door like the Diet Coke man from the long-ago commercial. Noah was so much more than she could ever have hoped for… in a friend. She just wanted to hold onto him and never let go. “Thank you, Noah. I’m not sure of everything I’m thanking you for. I just know it’s a lot.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
There was a distinct difference between Halloweens of years past and this one. Suddenly Noah had a whole new appreciation for costumes, and it wasn’t for the better as Bella dragged him through the front doors of the general store. The realization that Halloween had become a grown-up, hyped-up holiday of oversexualization and nothing to do with kids’ fun was a boot in the chest. He waved to the cashier he went to grade school with and followed Bella down the first aisle.
He took a deep breath when witches and warlocks greeted them. There were no sexy vampires or pirates who wanted to show off their booties. Instead, there was row after row of colorful princesses, muscled and padded heroes, and storybook villains. A quick swell of relief rolled through him as some of the more recognizable characters caught his eye. This might even be easy.
Bella skipped and stopped, stared at her options, then started her process again as Noah donned a mask then mimicked her inspection.
“Hey, ladybug.” He readjusted his face mask to see out of the two small eyeholes. “Are you thinking a fairy princess or superhero?”
With shiny-stringed wands in each hand, she spun on her toe. “Not sure.”
When in Rome… He picked up his own magical princess wands with the shiny strings— which he had to admit had an instant fun factor—and waved them side to side like handheld flags. “I think this is my costume. Scary mask, cute hands. What do you think?”
“It suits you.”
It suits you. What five-year-old spoke like that? But she was right. It did suit him, so who was he to question. There were far too many options that looked eerily the same. If he didn’t want to be here all night, Noah needed a plan. He decided that narrowing his options for her would be the best course of action. “Were you thinking a color scheme? Or characters?”
Bella’s wand-swirling arms fell as if they’d been tied to anchors in the river.
“What?” he asked.
“You want me to choose by color?” Her sweet face skewed.
“Kidding. Kinda.” Who knew he would be happy to be hiding behind a ghoul’s mask from a five-year-old’s displeasure. “Then character it is. Are we filtering by powers or favorite movie—”
“Where is the people section?”
He’d never been one to miss the obvious, but staring back at him appeared to be people— princesses, princes, knights, and police officers. There was Army. Notably missing were the Navy SEALs. Two different fireman costumes hung side by side, and there were several costumes for service industry characters, including chefs, bakers, and railroad engineers. All in all, Noah saw people. “I think we’re here, kid.”
Her wand-holding hands went to her hips. She was still not pleased. “No, real people.”
“Ladybug, these are all real people. And when you wear their costume, you will make them come alive.” Wasn’t that the point of Halloween? Some kids wanted to go “Boo.” Others wanted to emulate their heroes. There was a missing piece of the Halloween puzzle, though, and for the life of him, Noah couldn’t see what seemed so obvious to her. “Is there a specific person you’re looking for? From a movie? Or a job?”
“The girl in the picture with all the books who put the man on the moon.”
“Buzz Aldrin? That was a man and—”
“No.” Her little face scowled. “The girl who wrote the program that put him there. She did it with a pencil. And there were lots of books. That’s who I want to be for Halloween.”
There was Halloween shopping for kids, and then there was Halloween shopping for Bella. Noah understood this to be true and now realized he needed help. More importantly, he might also need a history lesson because he had obviously missed a chapter while learning how the first man had walked on the moon. “Give me a second.”
Noah stuck both of his shiny wands in his back pocket, exchanged one of them for his cell phone, and opened up the search browser. Keywords for his image search were “girl books man on the moon.”
The results were woefully disappointing with pictures of musical acts that this little ladybug better not know about.
Noah tried again with “code NASA female staff.” That time the images were far more appropriate, yet there was nothing that would seem to satisfy Bella’s upturned, imploring eyes.
“Did you find it?” She was surrounded by nothing that interested her, but the hope in her voice was enough to slice through his gut.
“Getting closer. I’ll figure it out.” His gaze lifted behind her as the simple encouragement caused her to beam far more than the shiny wands had. “And if they don’t have it here, I’ll see where they do have it.”
Her eyes cast down as her shoulders drooped. “What if they don’t have it anywhere?”
Another gut shot, delivered in stealth mode by his little ladybug. “I know you didn’t ask if there was something I couldn’t do.” He clucked lightly and dropped to his knees. Chuckling quietly, he said, “If I have to hand stitch the thing, you will be it.”
Whoever “it” was. That was first and foremost in this operation—figure out his target.
Noah hated to think that Teagan might assume he was using her only for help, but this situation was about to be at Mayday level.
“Go play for a few minutes while I do a little more research.” And by research, he meant texting his resource on all things… Well, all things at this point in time.
NOAH: Mayday, Mayday. I need Halloween help.
His phone flashed with an immediate notification and text message back. Noah wasn’t sure whether he was more thrilled for the help or to see her name flash onto his screen.
TEAGAN: I’m doing Halloween right now too. What’s up?
NOAH: Costumes. Or a specific costume.
TEAGAN: LOL
NOAH: This is the description I’m working with. A girl who handwrote the book that put somebody on the moon.
He hit Send and reread his text. It was so generic but at the same time so specific, what was he missing? And he didn’t want Teagan to think he was taking the lazy way out and simply texting her, or texting her just because. Now he felt like a schoolkid with a crush.
NOAH: I promise. I Googled.
TEAGAN: Here you go.
The image accompanying her text message was exactly as Bella had described. A young woman stood with a stack of books that was nearly as tall as she was. The caption on the picture read “Margaret Hamilton handwrote the code for NASA’s Apollo mission.”
He had a huge grin on his face. The
re were so many reasons. That was who Bella wanted to be for Halloween? Hell yes. She made him so proud, and Lainey would be proud too. Thank God for the ghoul’s mask, because his eyes stung for a moment as he thought about how excited she would’ve been to create that costume for her daughter. But Noah also smiled because Teagan knew. She knew Bella, she knew amazing things, and she was able to share with him without making him feel like a jackass.
He closed the image and saw another text message from her.
TEAGAN: Doubtful you will find *this* costume but I can help pull one together if you like.
“Will!” Bella trotted down the aisle as Noah glanced up to see Teagan round the corner with an armful of supplies.
“How funny,” Teagan said, laughing.
Will and Bella greeted each other with raucous surprise then put their heads together, breaking apart a second later.
“Excuse us,” Bella said. “We have a potion to make.”
“A potion, huh?” Noah swept his arm out, granting them permission to pass toward the witches section of the store.
Will scowled at Noah’s antics. “It’s very serious. You shouldn’t laugh.”
“Life-fault-ernating.” Bella was as unimpressed with Noah as Will.
“Tough crowd,” Noah mumbled to himself, then he beckoned Bella closer. “Alternating? Meaning, changing?”
“Yes,” Will gravely answered for Bella then tilted his head toward Teagan. “Are you alternating your life?”
“I could alternate, little man.” Her amusement was barely hidden by her serious tone.
“Phew.” Will let out a heavy sigh of relief.
“Phew!” Bella repeated as she jumped, then they raced to the head of the aisle as Teagan called for them to walk.
“They’re almost as relieved as I was to learn you know who Margaret Hamilton was,” he said.
Teagan stepped to his side, and they watched Bella and Will speed walk to the closest witches’ brooms and find their place among the cauldrons in the store aisle, pretending to pour imaginary bottles as they stirred their potions.
Will jumped back from what seemed to be an imaginary pot boiling over, and together they lifted an apparently heavy container and dumped it into the pot.
“Active imaginations.” Noah glanced down at Teagan by his side then flipped the phone in his hand. He pocketed it as Teagan covered her laughter with her hand, but she wasn’t watching the kids. “What?”
“You,” she said. “In the mask.”
“Me?” He flipped out his hands but egged on her laughter as he tilted his covered face, as though he were unaware of what he looked like. “What?”
“Even if I didn’t expect to see you here, I could’ve guessed who was behind the ghoul’s mask.”
“Rwar,” he joked.
“But I certainly didn’t expect to see you with sequin-and-string fairy godmother wands trailing from your backside.”
Ha! He’d forgotten! “These bad boys?”
Noah did a quick strut-and-spin, positive he made the sequin and strings shake as he turned around.
Her eyes danced. “It’s a good look for you. Softens the fangs and hairiness.”
“You like the ghoul’s mask.”
“I like your face better,” she said quietly.
Something about her tone quickly ran through him, how the humor was gone and how she seemed to be standing closer. He slid the mask off, running his hands into his hair that he was letting grow longer.
“Much more handsome.”
Simple and innocent, but it hit him straight in the chest. She made his blood warm and his need for her jump.
They had agreed their kiss was born out of stress and worry, curiosity and misplaced tension. Noah only wanted to do what was right for Bella. Family came first. But taking care of Bella didn’t mean that he could ignore needs and desires. That Noah was alive and that every inch of him was aware of Teagan. Not just how her cheeks were still pink after she said he was handsome or the way her hair fell around her face but the sound of her voice and the sweetness of her intentions. Hell, her looks were simply a bonus, and they didn’t explain why her text messages were the best part of his day. Teagan’s intelligence and humor, how she cared for her son, for Bella, and her students… for him. Those were the things driving him to the edge.
But they’d already gone down that road, and it was now labeled Restricted. He liked being her friend, and that was what he’d focus on.
“Let me give you a hand with that.” Noah lifted the tablecloths and packages of matching cups and plates from her arms. “Changing the motif at home?”
She remained close as she let go of the burden in her arms. “As much easier as plastic plates and cups might be, it’s for a school party.”
He glanced over his shoulder. Will and Bella were perfectly content to stir their witches’ cauldrons without adult interference. “I have some Googling ahead of me to plan the costume. I’m not sure how much of it I’m going to find here.” Perfectly safe conversation for friends. He could do this because he had to. Screwing up wasn’t an option. Noah chewed the inside of his cheek. “Were you two still shopping or wrapping up?”
An indecipherable emotion appeared on Teagan’s face. Her sweet smile remained, but the openness in her eyes became guarded. She shifted her stance, glancing at the kids and taking a step away, reminding Noah how much he hated the distance between them.
Wait…
Did he just miss a cue from Teagan, or was he searching for something that wasn’t there? Her voice made his skin prickle with excitement, and she stood close, talking quietly. Then she backed away when he didn’t notice.
Because he was a guy. Because he was in over his head. Because there were a million reasons he didn’t want to burn this friendship, and because, for Bella’s sake—as they’d painfully and honestly realized—he needed Teagan as a resource. Caring for Bella wasn’t like an uncle babysitting. He couldn’t be a fun time and then disappear. And he didn’t want to.
And hell, he was going to mess this up, but the way his chest tightened when she got quiet and smiled… Noah set down the plastic ware and tablecloths. Teagan blushed, her eyes nervously darting about the aisle as though she realized he’d just now caught on, that she’d tried to flirt, and he ruined it. Her eyes dropped to the floor where he placed her belongings, and they stayed there as he took an obvious step forward to resume their closeness.
She didn’t move. His heart picked up its pace, drawing heavy beats that surged in his neck. Noah reached for her hand and grinned when her fingers rigidly froze in his palm. He didn’t want to twine them together or pull her close. Instead he placed his other hand on top, like a sandwich, then simply held her hand in his.
“Teagan.”
“Yes?” She interlaced their fingers slowly then unlaced them, and Noah let his fingers trace the outline of her hand in his palm.
“I lied before, and I don’t agree.”
Her eyes widened as her hand tensed in his.
He clasped his hands around hers, not playing anymore but simply holding still. “Kissing you was a good thing. I can’t get it out of my head. And I want it to happen again.”
“I do too,” she whispered.
“I get your reservations, and believe me, they make sense. I know you’re looking out for Bella and yourself. You should be. And nothing I’m about to say will fall within any rule book or shrink guidelines. But…”
“But what?”
As much as he wanted to touch her, he eased their hands apart. He wanted her to think clearly—he needed her to. He was asking her to break their ground rules, and he couldn’t think with his hands on her. “Let’s get a babysitter. We can head down to the bar at the Broadleaf for cocktails and then over to Bailey’s restaurant. A nice dinner, just the two of us. But—”
He took a breath, ready to lay it all out on the line. What was the point of hiding the truth? If Lainey had taught him anything, more than the SEALs even, it was that life com
es at you fast. So fast that he could run into this woman and make plans as fast as they came into his head, not having a clue five minutes before that he might ever make such suggestions. “I’ve never got a babysitter for a kid before in my life. I don’t know how long that takes. I don’t have to go into the shop tomorrow. Closed on Sundays. You guys go home, pack a bag. Will can have a slumber party with Bella tonight. Stay with me. I’m not asking you to sleep with me.” Noah tucked the loose hair on her cheek behind her ear. “I’ll sleep on the couch. I’ll sleep on the floor. Out in the car. I’ve slept in far worse. All I know is that you are a special person, I shouldn’t have agreed not to kiss you again. I want you closer than you have been. Spend the night, tonight.”
He took a step back and watched for a reaction. She wasn’t saying a word. That did not bode well.
“I love the Broadleaf.”
Okay, a date. Maybe his slumber party idea was too forward. The woman hadn’t wanted to kiss again, and he’d thrown out the suggestion of spending the night together, albeit clearly he meant separate bedrooms. Still… What a moron. But he didn’t regret laying it on the line like that and would’ve done it the same way all over again. “Understood. I read you loud and clear.”
Noah was midpivot to check on the kids and save face when Teagan touched his bicep. “Hang on a sec. I wasn’t done.”
A jagged slice of hope picked up in his chest, making him wonder whether he hadn’t crashed and burned completely.
“I have one condition.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
Her eyebrows bobbed just enough that he knew something fun was coming. “You have to agree without knowing.”
He moved closer. “Can I reserve the right to add a condition under your condition?”
She shook her head. “Nope, it’s a condition without contingency, and you have to agree to it without knowing what it is.”
Game changer. She was throwing in a whole new level of trust factor now. “Done. I agree.”
“I’m cooking. You’re on cleanup duty. With the exception of whatever the kids clear from the table. As hot of a fantasy as a SEAL and firemen might be, I think I only want to spend the night with you.”
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