“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yep.”
He focused on lifting his foot and getting into the hallway. Bemused, he ambled to the elevator. Since when did being a good mom become so attractive? Because mom-ness looked good on Avery.
Chapter Thirteen
Avery
Avery snuck around the hotel room, gathering her phone and running shoes. She wrote a note on the pad on the side table for Landon, telling him she was going out for a run. She needed to get out of the hotel, and especially out of the room. It smelled like a dozen preteen sweaty boys had camped there overnight. They hadn’t. Their parents had started calling them around eleven, and the last one trickled out at eleven thirty. Still, she should buy an air freshener to save the poor maids.
Once his buddies left, Landon filled her in on the whole football game—from being told they had to stay in the hotel to Walker saving the day. Or was it Ben? Landon called him Ben, but his Capture My Heart profile had said Walker. She’d double-checked it this morning.
She tied her shoes as she waited for the elevator. A soft ding told her it had arrived, and she hopped up, ready to run off some of her mom high. She’d nailed it last night with the guys.
Inside the elevator was Walker/Ben, wearing high-end workout clothing. She wondered if he packed more than she had and if he was a high-maintenance man.
“How’d it go?” he asked, his eyes bright and interested.
Avery hugged herself happily. “I’m out of junk food and my kid probably has a sugar hangover like no other, but he sent me a covert text thanking me fornot being embarrassing for once.”
They laughed together. She quieted hers so she could enjoy his laugh. It was profound and rumbly, like it came from deep inside of him where there weren’t walls or defensive measures.
For a moment, they watched the numbers tick down. Avery slid her phone into the armband and secured it around her bicep. “Anyway, thanks for the advice. It worked out.”“Question: Do you want me to call you Ben or Walker?” She slapped the Velcro in place.
He gave her that Harrison Ford smile again. “You can call me whatever you want.”
She lifted an eyebrow at his flirting. With a dry mouth, she responded, “Then I’ll call you Indiana.”
“As in Jones?” He bobbed his head as if the idea of being named after the famous action adventure character suited him just fine.
“We named thedogIndiana,” she quoted.
His mouth fell open in shock. “How did I miss that line?”
She covered her mouth as she giggled. He scowled, creating two lines between his eyebrows. “Sorry, you walked into that one.”
He lifted a shoulder. “I’m going to have to watch the movie again tonight. I don’t think Savannah has seen that one.”
She gasped and splayed her hand over her chest. “What kind of a parent are you?”
“One who is seriously lacking in educating his child.”
She tsked her tongue and forced her gaze away from the laughter in his eyes. Trying to bring herself down a few notches, she asked, “Is Savannah okay?” She’d found the girl in the tunnel alone the day before, and they’d had a nice chat. Moving was hard for kids, and the girls her age had been together since kindergarten.
“She’s still trying to find her place.”
“She’ll get there. She’s an amazing person—that’s on you.” Avery poked him in the arm. The tight, muscly arm. Her eyes traveled from his shoulder to his wrist, noting the bulges she’d not seen in all his dress shirts.
Ben cocked his head, a smile tugging at his lips. Dang it. He’d caught her looking at him. Like,lookinglooking. That was mortifying. “Her mom’s involved enough that I have to share some of the credit.”
“Like fifty-fifty?”
“More like eighty-five-fifteen.”
“She has her smile,” Avery offered.
“Eighty-twenty, then.” Ben grinned. “They were supposed to be on a luxurious mother/daughter spa weekend, and instead Savannah’s here, feeling alone.”
