“You’re the kind of person who makes a file.” His voice dipped. “And the kind of person who jumps into a well to save a goat in the middle of a storm.”
His eyes held hers. The space between them crackled.
“I like that about you,” he said.
She almost smiled. Almost leaned in.
Then the front door banged open.
“Morning, Hale family!” came a sing-song voice. “I’m here for your children.”
Ethan closed his eyes for a second like he was praying for patience, then opened them with a tight smile. “Morning, Nova.”
Melly came in like a blur and threw herself at Nova’s legs.
Nova scooped her up and hugged her. “Go get dressed and get your sisters,” she said, placing her back on the ground. “I’ve got big plans for today.”
“Is it a man or a lady ghost? Do you think they’ll play paper airplanes with me?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Nova said with a wink, and Melly tore off down the hall, yelling for her sisters.
“I take it you’re Honey.” Nova bopped in.
“I am.” Honey instinctively stepped back from Ethan, suddenly aware of how close they’d been standing. “Honey Baxter. Bureau of Compliance.”
She said it crisply, without looking at Ethan, but the reminder landed just the same. She told herself she’d said it to reset the distance. To reassert that she was here on assignment, not to get swept up in the warmth of a man with kind eyes and a dimpled smile.
Nova picked up on none of that.
She grinned at Honey as if they were already best friends. “You’re so much cuter than Ethan said. No offense, but I imagined someone with glasses and a clipboard permanently attached to their hand.”
Honey gave her a polite smile. “Don’t worry. I take the audit very seriously.”
“So I’ve heard.”
There was a beat of silence. The words were innocent. Nova hadn’t meant anything by them, but they struck harder than they should have. Honey held her smile anyway.
Nova’s gaze bounced between her and Ethan. “Well, I’ll leave you two professionals to your serious...auditing.” She turned toward the front door. “Kids! Let’s go! Uncle Mav’s in the car, and he’s in a mood until he gets his donuts.”
The house erupted in motion. The girls tumbled down the hallway in a blur of limbs and ponytails. Emma nearly passed the kitchen without a glance until Ethan called her back.
“Emma, wait.”
She paused in the doorway.
“We still need to talk about last night.”
She shrugged, avoiding looking at Honey or her dad. “Later, okay? We’re late for donuts.”
Then she was gone.
The silence that followed felt louder than the chaos had.
Honey shifted her grip on her mug. The moment from before—the look, the touch, the shared breath—it all seemed like it belonged to someone else now. Someone not in charge of an official audit.
This is an assignment. She was a professional.
“We can schedule some time this evening to go over the proposals,” she said, taking another step back. “But I need to finish the audit first.”
