Page 40 of The Rules of Dating

She frowned as she stared down at the cement. “I’m not.”

“Billie, look at me.”

Taking a deep breath, she lifted her eyes to meet mine. What I saw made my chest tight. She looked so damn hurt.

“Nothing happened. I swear.”

She looked at my hand on her arm and then back up to me. Her eyes filled with tears. “Please let go of me.”

I immediately released her and stepped back, raising my hands. “Sorry. I’ll call you later?”

“Sure.”

She walked away and never looked back.

Fuck. This is not good.

***

“Daddy, look what I made!” Back at our place, Saylor removed drawing after drawing from her backpack.

“Wow, that’s beautiful, baby. Is it a giraffe?”

My daughter giggled. “No, Daddy. It’s you!”

I squinted at the paper. “What are those things on my head?”

“It’s the party hats you wore on my birthday.”

“Oooohhh.” I nodded. That made sense now. When we sang happy birthday to her, I’d been wearing two of those cardboard hats with elastic strings on top of my head.

Saylor clasped her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth. “I made it with the markers Billie gave me for my birthday.”

Hearing that name from my daughter’s mouth made my heart sink. I’d called Billie three times today. The first two times it rang and rang before going to voicemail. The third time it rang once and went to the recording immediately—like she’d hit ignore on her phone. Which gave me an idea. I looked at the time on my cell. It was only about five. She might still be working.

“How would you like to stop by Billie’s shop downstairs and show her what you made?”

Saylor jumped up and down. “Yes! Yes!”

I smiled. “Go grab your shoes.”

Justine was at the desk when we walked in. She smiled. “Hey, Saylor. How are you?”

“Good.”

I motioned toward the back. “Is Billie still here?”

“Yep. She just finished up her last customer. You can go on back. It’s just her and Deek cleaning up for the day.”

“Thanks.”

Billie was washing the mirror at her workstation. Her face fell when she saw me in the reflection.

Shit. It’s even worse than I thought. Like a coward, I nudged my daughter to walk into the room first. “Hey. We just stopped by to show you the picture Saylor made with the markers you got her.”

Deek looked over at me and folded his arms across his chest.

Damn…she told him, too. I lifted my chin anyway. “What’s up, Deek?”