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thing to do. Because I learned that it’s okay to accept some help
every now and then.” He nodded toward the bike. “Take it,” he
said. “I have no use for it, and you have to admit that it would
make getting to and from work a whole lot easier.”
It took a few seconds before he saw her shoulders relax and she
turned to him with a wry smile. “Did you practice that speech?”
“Of course.” He tried to look sheepish. “But you’ll take it?”
She hesitated. “A bike might be nice,” she finally admitted.
“Thank you.”
For a long moment, neither of them said anything. As he stared at
her profile, he noted again how pretty she was, though he had the
sense that she didn’t think so. Which only made her even more
appealing.
“You’re welcome,” he said.
“But no more freebies, okay? You’ve done more than enough for
me already.”
“Fair enough.” He nodded toward the bike. “Did it ride okay?
With the baskets, I mean?”
“It was fine. Why?”
“Because Kristen and Josh helped me put them on yesterday. One
of those rainy-day projects, you know? Kristen picked them out.
Just so you know, she also thought you needed sparkly handlebar
grips, too, but I drew the line at that.”
“I wouldn’t have minded sparkly handlebar grips.”
He laughed. “I’ll let her know.”
She hesitated. “You’re doing a good job, you know. With your
kids, I mean.”