She laughs.“I think that’s the most normal reaction you’ve had since walking through my door, West.”
“It’s good cake.”
“I’ll box it up for you when you go.Give you two that alone time you need.”
I grin and concentrate on the plate in front of me.She could be selling these in one of those fancy Dallas restaurants.Hell, she could have a shop around the corner from Lemon’s Gallery in New York.People would be lined up around the block.
“So, you always wear footie pajamas?”
“Do you always drop by single women’s houses late at night unannounced?”She asks and then her full lips turn down in a frown.“Actually, probably best not to answer that.”
I lean forward and stab a corner of her cake, slowly bringing it to my lips with a grin.“For your information, no.I haven’t stopped by a woman’s house late at night for a long time.”
“You forgot uninvited.”She copies the action and steals the remaining cake from my plate, but she has to stand up on account of her pregnant belly.
I pull away too late.I love this cake.Like, really,lovethis cake, but she can have it if it means I get to see her smile like that.Jesus.This woman is a knockout, footie pajamas and all.“You trying to tell me something, Dais?”
“Only that you’re as big a pain in the ass as you were in high school.”
“That right?”I stand, because she’s right, I am being a pain in the ass visiting without word, eating all her cake, and taking up a seat at her dining table like I’m someone who has a right to be sitting here so late.I put my chair in and pick up my plate, taking it to the sink.“Well, I better not outstay my welcome then.”
“West,” she says quietly.“I was just playing.”
“I know.I better get on home though.I got Ham waiting on me.”
“Ham?”
“Pet bull, it’s kind of a long story.”One I’m not sure she needs to know because then she’d have a very clear indication of how much of a sucker I am for a pair of warm brown eyes and a set of long lashes.And now I’m comparing a beautiful woman to livestock.Lemon’s right, I need to get out more.
I rinse my plate and turn off the faucet, but it drips.I turn it tighter.
Drip.Drip.Drip.
The sound of the leaky faucet fills the silence.My jaw twitches.How much shit around here has Eddie neglected, and for how long?
“Oh, the washer is busted,” Daisy says with a tight smile.“I’ve been meaning to call a plumber, but I didn’t want the invoice for something I could just look up on the internet and do myself.”
“You got any tools?I can do it right now and save you a hundred bucks.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking.Did Eddie leave any tools behind?”
“West—”
“Dais.Let me do this.It’ll take me five minutes.”
She frowns, and then nods slowly.“Okay, I’ll get them.”
She disappears.A few moments later, the crashing of metal against concrete fills the garage and I swear to god, I hear Daisy-Mae squeak.I run in and find the contents of Eddie’s toolbox scattered on the floor along with several cardboard boxes overflowing with stuff.Daisy is standing smack bang in the middle of it, protectively holding her pregnant belly.
“Jesus, Dais.Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just ...er ...give me a second to pick this up and I’ll get you those tools.”
I push through the mess and gently grab her elbow.“How ’bout you let me take care of the mess and you go put your feet up?”
“No.It’s fine.It’ll only take me a minute.”
