Page 80 of For Your Consideration

Real smooth, Ash.

“Hey, Grizzly.” Her bright eyes landed on me, bouncing down to my hands before coming back to my face.

I cleared my throat again and then held out the bouquet of pink daisies. There were three different shades mixed in because I wasn’t sure if she liked one more than the other. “For you.”

I had a whole “friends can give friends flowers” speech ready but her smile only grew and her eyes brightened as she put her nose to them.

“How did you know I love daisies?” There was a look of wonder on her face.

“You mentioned it at the house.” When I was giving her a tour, we were looking at the yard from the kitchen and she mentioned how her favorite flowers were daisies, specifically pink ones because they made her happy.

“That’s really sweet of you.” She smiled down at them again. “Come on in.” She moved back inside the apartment and I followed behind.

Sophie was in a highchair in the kitchen. She let out a squeak when she saw me and started clapping her hands.

“Hey, sunshine.” I walked to her and gave her a kiss before letting her wrap her little hand around my finger. As she started to shake it, I smiled and looked over at Sutton.

She was carefully arranging the flowers in a vase, a smile on her face. If she was this surprised and happy about a measly bouquet of daisies then I would need to make sure she got used to this kind of treatment.

“What can I help with?” I asked.

She moved the flowers to the table and then came back into the kitchen. She had some pots on the stove and it smelled really fucking good in here.

“Nothing,” she said. “You can sit your butt right beside Soph and watch.” I opened my mouth to object but she shot me a look and then placed a glass of wine on the island. “Come on, Grizzly.”

I let out a sigh and then shoved myself onto the stool. My big frame didn’t exactly fit but Sophie seemed happy as she started slapping the counter and passing me the things that were sitting in front of her.

“I’m making chicken and veggies with noodles and a cheese sauce. I know it’s not fancy but it’s one of the things I’m best at making.” She smiled at me over her shoulder as she stirred the sauce.

“I don’t need fancy.” That wasn’t super convincing considering I was sitting here with a Rolex on my wrist and wearing a pair of jeans that cost more than they should.

“I know. I just—”

“I lived in a car, remember?”

Her face softened and her shoulders relaxed. “You’re right, sorry.”

“None of that.” I sent her a forceful look. “How are you feeling today?”

She let out a breath and shrugged. “There are moments when I forget that Ben even called and then other times it hits me in the chest and makes it hard to think of anything else.”

I clenched my fists, not wanting to say the wrong thing. “That makes sense.” That probably wasn’t it.

“Maya already sent me a bunch of questions and was impressed by my documentation so I know she’s on it.”

I would make fucking sure of it. “Now, tell me about your day.”

I kept her talking through her plating us dinner and kept Sophie happy while we ate at the little dining room table. When she scooped Sophie out of her chair to feed her, I stood, reaching for her plate.

“You don’t have to—” When she looked up to meet my eyes she stopped talking, clearly seeing that I was not going to accept that.

“You feed Soph, I’m cleaning up.” I left no room for argument as I cleared the table and headed into the kitchen.

The reason was twofold. One, I’d always planned to clean up since she hadn’t let me do a damn thing earlier and Jane raised me right. And two, I couldn’t sit there and watch her breastfeed. Mostly because it wasn’t her boobs that turned me on. I mean, they were perfect and looked the exact right size for grabbing, but it was incredible how she was able to care for her child like that.

I was going to have to go home tonight and take care of myself because spending this much time around my “friend” was making me hard.

Constantly.