Sebastian bows his head. “A lawyer helps the police to make sure that the bad guys go to jail and stay there.”
A lawyer?His admission surprises me.
“That sounds cool.” Cooper slides into his lap. “Why didn’t you do that?”
Sebastian runs his hand over Coop’s forehead. “I almost did, but I changed my mind. My dad was a policeman and his dad was too. It made them happy when I went to the police academy.”
Cooper looks down at the badge in his hand. “If you were a lawyer you wouldn’t have one of these. You can take it back now.”
Sebastian reaches toward it, his hand hesitating before he picks it up. “You’re right. I wouldn’t.”
“It’s time to get ready for bed,” I call from where I’m standing. Something has shifted in Sebastian’s demeanor and now is the perfect time to get Cooper tucked in between his sheets. “Say goodnight to Sebastian.”
Cooper slides off Sebastian’s lap and faces him. “Are we friends now?”
“You bet.” Sebastian musses his hair.
“I’m going to tell the kids at school that my best friend is a policeman.”
“Hey,” I say as I approach where they’re sitting. “I thought we were best friends.”
Cooper blows out a breath. “You’re my second best friend.”
I laugh. “I’ll take it.”
We start toward his bedroom when he stops in place and turns around to look at Sebastian. “I sometimes ask Tilly to marry me, but she always says no. She might say yes if you ask her.”
“Cooper,” I say his name in a rush. “Sebastian and I are just friends.”
He grabs my hand and pulls it toward his bedroom. “Come on. I want you to read me the book about the astronaut.”
I glance back at Sebastian. We lock eyes and he smiles softly.
I turn away when Cooper yanks on my hand again. I can’t wait to get him into bed so I can spend time alone with the man I think I might be falling for.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Tilly
“He fellasleep before I got to the third page of the book,” I say as I walk back into the main living area of Carolyn’s apartment. I reach to pick up toys as I make my way to the sofa where Sebastian is still sitting.
He slides to his feet to help. “He’s a great kid, Matilda. He might actually know more about the moon than I do.”
I laugh as I pile the toys into a bin in the corner. “Do you want something to drink? Carolyn usually keeps a few cans of soda in the fridge, or I can get you a glass of water.”
He dumps the toys he’s collected into the bin. “Nothing for me.”
“I’ll grab something for myself.” I start the walk toward the kitchen. “Cooper is going to talk about meeting you for days.”
I hear Sebastian chuckle as I round the corner and grab a soda from the fridge. I pour it into a glass. I take a large sip before I head back out toward the living room.
Sebastian is still on his feet, but he’s grabbed his cell phone from where he put it on the coffee table earlier.
All evening it’s been chiming signals of incoming text messages. I expected him to announce that he had to get back to work, but instead he read the messages without replying.
His fingers are rapidly typing something on the screen now. I don’t interrupt. Instead, I cross over to the dining room table, place the glass down, and tidy the books and laptop so it’s one less thing Carolyn will have to deal with tomorrow.
I raise my head when I hear Sebastian curse under his breath.
