That took me by surprise. I waved her off, leaning subtly back toward Simon until my shoulders bumped against his chest. His fingers tightened on my hip.
When he’d first said Audrey had shown up, I’d wished she hadn’t. Now, I hoped she’d hang around as long as possible.
“I know what she’s like,” I said. “I…”
Something about being in contact with Simon must’ve transferred some of the grace he extended to everyone to me, because I couldn’t help thinking now that I’d been rude to Audrey yesterday.
“I, umm, wanted to apologize for the first impression I must’ve made,” I said before I could talk myself out of it.
Audrey’s brows rose, which only made me feel worse. On the other hand, Simon squeezed my hip. That was enough to give me the nudge I needed to go on.
“I was rude to you, and you didn’t deserve it. It wasn’t personal, I just…”
She waved me off. “You were tired and surprised by your mother trying to set you up with me when you already have this gorgeous and attentive boyfriend,” she said, gesturing toward us.
Simon let out a tiny, nervous laugh—the one he always did when someone paid him a compliment.
I tilted my head back to rest on his shoulder. “He is both gorgeous and attentive,” I said, turning to nuzzle his cheek.
It made perfect sense that Audrey had moved on easily from me to obviously being interested in Simon. People were lining up for him this weekend, thanks to his Ellie-assisted glow up.
I wasn’t sure if I should have been grateful to her or not.
“Don’t think this gets you out of telling me about the books you’re working on,” Audrey said.
“Mom’s behind the times,” I said. “I work in middle grade fiction now.”
Audrey beamed—a genuine smile, one that made her eyes twinkle. Shewaspretty.
Simon could do worse.
“I know,” she said. “I’m a children’s illustrator. I loved theTiniest Dragonyou were worked on. So did my daughter.”
I blinked at her. “Your daughter?”
“Divorced,” Audrey said, still smiling. “Happily. Layla would havelovedyou to be her new dad, though.”
Layla. The name made me smile automatically.
“Isn’t that the name—wait, is this a trade secret?” Simon asked.
Audrey looked between us, brows drawn.
“The acquisition’s been publicized,” I said to Simon, then turned my attention to Audrey, “I’m about to start work on the first book in a planned series. The protagonist’s name is Layla.”
Audrey lit up. If she had a middle-grade aged daughter, she must have married young. Delilah was only fifteen months younger than me—Audrey could have been a little older than her, but notmuch, since they’d been in the same class at school.
I’d been unfair about her. Simon would have been disappointed in me if I’d said any of the things I’d thought aloud.
“Send me a portfolio link,” I said as the urge to make it up to her—even if she hadn’t known what I’d been thinking—welled up in my gut. “I can’t make any promises, it’s not my decision, but I can make sure your name’s on the list for the cover and internals.”
Audrey laughed. “Cronyism,” she said. “But I’ll take it. Thank you. Are you guys headed back to the house?”
“We are,” Simon confirmed. “Need a ride?”
Was he interested?
Audrey was turning out to be nicer than I’d imagined. She was beautiful, and now she even came with a daughter. Simonwanted kids one day. He’d make an amazing father. He deserved to get the chance.
