Page 38 of Starcrossed Colorado

“Right.”

Her teasing smile went straight to the least appropriate parts of me.Nrgh.

I reminded myself that my kid was close by. That sobered me up.

Emma put a leash on Stella. Maisie insisted on holding the leash, which I thought was a bad idea because that dog had forty pounds on her. But Emma assured me Stella would stay calm.

Since it was summer, the sun was still high though it was dinnertime. I noticed details of my town that I must’ve missed in the last few weeks. When had all these flowers bloomed? Everything was so green.

“Oh, I wanted to ask you something.” Emma dug into her messenger bag. I kept one eye on my daughter ahead of us and one on what Emma was doing. She produced a book-like object with unicorns on the cover, but no title written on the outside.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Shhh,” Emma scolded me, hiding the book in her bag. “It’s a surprise. Don’t be so loud.”

“I’m not loud.”

Maisie looked at us over her shoulder. “You’re very loud, Daddy.”

“Ganging up on me, huh?”

Emma smiled so big that a small dimple appeared in her cheek. “I bought it earlier,” she said, far quieter than me. “It’s a blank notebook. I thought Maisie could start a diary, or justdraw in it. Whatever she likes. But I wanted to check with you first and see if it’s okay.”

“Sure. That’s…I think she’ll like it.” I cleared my throat.

“Good. I’ll give it to her later.” She closed her bag. “Tell me about the workshop you were teaching.”

Yeah. That was much safer ground than how sweet she was being to my kid. Time to talk about my badass martial arts moves. I stuck out my chest, flexing a bit for good measure.

Me, getting misty-eyed because this gorgeous woman had bought a unicorn notebook for my daughter? Nah. Never happened.

I’d deny it until the end of time. Or at least until the end of the summer.

“You’re kidding me,” I muttered.

We had just turned the corner, and Flamethrower was up ahead. But the line stretched out the door and partway down the block. It was a Thursday night in summer, so maybe I should’ve expected this. Damn tourists taking over my town.

“That’s okay,” Emma said. “We can entertain ourselves while we wait.”

I kept grumbling, but after a while, I gave up. Honestly, it took more effort to stay in a bad mood when she and Maisie were around. Between the dog and my kid, we made new friends and said hello to a bunch of people I knew. So maybe it wasn’talltourists.

Just before we went inside, Emma tied Stella’s leash to a railing by the patio and made sure she had water available. Maisie tugged at my arm. “Daddy, can’t Stella come in with us?”

“Nope. No dogs allowed. We’ll come out here and find a table after we order.”

“Not fair.” Maisie pouted and stomped her little foot. But people on the patio were already fawning over the retriever. She was going to be fine.

Still, I noticed that Emma kept casting nervous glances through the windows as we headed inside. She’d really gotten a scare in the park.

“I’ll keep an eye on Stella,” I said. “I have a clear line of sight.”

Emma exhaled. “Thanks. I’m being ridiculous.”

“Nah, I get it.” Unable to resist, I let my fingertips brush the inside of her wrist. She exhaled again and didn’t move her arm. The contact lingered.

We reached the counter, where Elias was taking orders. I knew how that was. Running a small business meant you filled in anywhere and everywhere.

I gave him an up-nod. He grinned when he saw us. “Well look at you, O’Neal. Out and about. Emma, right? I remember you from Hearthstone.”

---