I couldn’t blame him. But I also couldn’t let him have her.
When Jeremiah caught his attention with a question about football, I used it as an opportunity to follow Naomi inside. I found her bent over the rolltop desk next to the stairs in the living room.
“Whatcha doing?”
She jumped, shoulders hitching. Then spun around, holding her hands behind her back. When she saw it was me, she rolled her eyes. “Is there something you need? A slap across the face? An excuse to leave?”
I closed the distance between us slowly. I didn’t know why I was doing it. I just knew that watching her smile at my brother made my chest tight, that being frozen out was getting to me. And the closer I moved to her, the warmer I felt.
“Thought money was tight,” I said when she tilted her head to look up at me.
“Oh, bite me, Viking.”
“Just sayin’， Daisy, your first night on the job, you gave me a sob story of losing your savings and supporting your niece. Now it looks like you’re feeding half the county.”
“It’s a potluck, Knox. By the way, you’re the only one who didn’t bring anything to share. Besides, I wasn’t doing it to socialize.”
I liked the way she said my name when she was exasperated. Hell, I just liked my name on those lips.
“All right then. Why are you hosting half of Knockemout for a potluck?”
“If I tell you do you promise to do us both a favor and go away?”
“Absolutely,” I lied.
She bit her lip and peered over my shoulder. “Fine. It’s because of Chloe.”
“You’re throwing a dinner party for an eleven-year-old?”
She rolled her eyes. “No! That adorable chatterbox is the most popular girl in Waylay’s grade. They have the same teacher this year. I was just trying to give them a chance to spend some time together.”
“You’re matchmaking sixth-graders?”
Naomi’s jaw jutted out and she crossed her arms over her chest. I didn’t mind because it pressed her breasts up higher against the neckline of her dress.
“You wouldn’t understand what it’s like to walk through town and be judged by people just because of who you’re related to,” she hissed.
I took a step closer to her. “You’re dead wrong about that.”
“Okay. Fine. Whatever. I want Waylay to go to school with actual friends, not just rumors that she’s Tina Witt’s abandoned daughter.”
It was probably a solid play. I’d had my brother and Lucian on the first day of school when we’d moved here. No one in school had the guts to say shit about one of us since we were protected by the pack.
“Then what’s this?” I asked, grabbing the notebook she had clutched in one hand.
“Knox! Stop!”
“Emergency Back-to-School To Do,” I read. “Pick up laptop. Try to schedule meeting with teacher. Back to school clothes and supplies. Money.” I let out a low whistle. “A lot of question marks after that one.”
She lunged for the notebook, but I held it out of her reach and flipped back a page. I found another to do list and another one. “Sure do like lists,” I observed.
Her handwriting started out nice and neat, but the farther down the list it got, I could practically feel the panic in her penmanship. The woman had a lot on her plate. And not much to do it with if the glimpse of her bank balances scrawled at the bottom of a shopping list were any indicator.
This time I allowed her to snatch the notebook back. She threw it on the desk behind her and picked up her wine glass.
“Stay out of my business, Knox,” she said. Her cheeks were pink, and there wasn’t a hint of frost in those gorgeous hazel eyes now. Every time she took a deep breath, her breasts grazed my chest and drove me just a little more insane.
“You don’t have to do this alone, you know,” I said.
She clapped her non-wine-holding hand to her forehead in mock excitement. “Of course! I can just ask for handouts from strangers. Why didn’t I think of that? That wouldn’t make me look like I’m incapable of taking care of a child in the eyes of the law. Problem solved.”
“There’s nothin’ wrong with accepting a little help now and then.”
“I don’t need help. I need time,” she insisted, her shoulders tensing, hand fisting at her side. “Sloane mentioned she might have a part-time position opening up at the library after school starts. I can save up and get a car. I can make this work. I just need time.”