Page 113 of Say You Remember Me
Warmth spread through my chest at her words, my hand tightening slightly on the steering wheel as I glanced at her. “I had a great time with him, too,” I said, the wholesome fun we’d had together at dinner making something inside me settle. “He’s an awesome kid. Smart. And ruthless when it comes to Uno.”
“He wasn’t exaggerating when he said he always beats me at Uno.” She smiled, her eyes lighting up in that way that alwaysmade it hard to look away. “He’s just…strangely good at the game.”
“Oh, don’t I know it?” I said, letting out a low laugh. “He has no mercy. The kid barely lets me put my second-to-last card down before he’s calling out ‘Uno!’ on me.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror, catching Grant’s reflection as he fiddled with a toy dinosaur. I grinned as I turned back to Maddie, hoping she could tell from the way I couldn’t stop smiling all afternoon just how much I genuinely enjoyed their company.
Because yep, I was an addict. Hooked on this sweet single mom and her cute eight-year-old boy.
As we drove through the sleepy streets of Eden Falls and got closer and closer to my house where her Subaru waited to take them back to Sloan’s house, I felt the urge to take several wrong turns, just to delay the inevitable goodbye we’d have to say at the end of the drive.
I knew it was absurd since I’d be seeing her again at work in less than twelve hours…and yet, I was already going through the withdrawals.
Spending time with her and Grant tonight had felt so right. Easy in a way I wasn’t used to.
These last two weeks while she’d been at her dad’s, I’d missed her.
Missed seeing her through my office window. Missed the little smiles she’d send my way while we worked. Even now, with her sitting beside me, I was already starting to miss her. Missed the hours I wouldn’t have with her between now and the sunrise.
Sure, I knew she hadn’t been to Sloan’s house for two and a half weeks and probably had some unpacking and catching up to do before the morning came, but I was a selfish man. And if it wouldn’t make me seem completely obsessed, I’d probably tellher that if she wanted, she and Grant could just stay in the spare bedrooms at my place.
I could have some fresh pajamas and extra toiletries delivered within the hour—heck, they could have a whole new wardrobe and everything else delivered with a single call to my head of staff and she’d take care of everything so they’d never have to leave again.
Okay…so maybe that was a bit overboard.
But I couldn’t help it. I’d missed her so much that only having a few hours with her today wasn’t nearly enough.
I’d spent way too many nights alone in my big, empty house. I didn’t want another.
It was a new feeling for me—this pull to stay, to stretch out every second I had with her. In the past, my relationships—or flings, if I was being honest—burned hot and fast. Three days in, and I’d be itching for a clean break. A little space, a little distance, and I was good as new.
But with Maddie?
The thought of space felt unbearable. Being with her didn’t suffocate me the way it had with anyone else. It did the opposite. It made me feel lighter. Happier. Like maybe, for the first time, I’d found something worth holding on to.
Was it logical? Probably not. But love wasn’t logical, was it?
Wait…The wordlovestopped me cold.
Love.
Was that what this was? Was I…in love with her?
The realization hit me like a gut punch, knocking the breath out of me as I stared straight ahead at the empty road.
It wasn’t something I’d let myself think about in years. Love didn’t happen to me—not when I’d spent the last nine years keeping everything and everyone at arm’s length to avoid the kind of pain I swore I’d never go through again.
But as I glanced over at Maddie—her head tilted toward the window, a faint smile on her lips as the glow of the streetlights traced her profile—I felt it. A tightening in my chest, a swell of something I couldn’t name but instinctively knew was real.
If someone had asked me a few months ago how long it took to fall in love, I probably would’ve shrugged and given some vague answer like,As long as it takes.
But now?
Now, I knew.
Because if my math was correct, I was pretty sure it only took thirty-seven days.
Give or take the nine years in between.
