Page 46 of This Kind of Forever

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes, I am.” She crosses her arms.

“Then I’ll just keep finding more things to buy for you.”

She throws her arms up. “Why? You already refuse to let me pay a fair amount of rent.”

I’d charge her nothing if I thought I could get away with it.

Leaning back in my seat, I let an amused smile settle on my lips. She’s cute when she tries to be angry. “Because I like to make you smile.”

Some of the fight leaves her then, and her eyes soften. “You’re sweet. Too sweet for your own good.”

“What kind of fiancé would I be if I wasn’t?”

She sighs at that, and I instantly wish I could take my words back. I’m trying to make her less sad, but that ring she’s wearing keeps drawing my attention. It’s not real, I know. But it damn well looks like it could be.

“The fake kind,” she replies. Then she twists the ring off her finger and deposits it in her pocket.

The employee appears at our table, setting a plate in front of Hallie. I’m not too keen on the idea of veggie burgers, but even I have to admit, it smells good. The sweet potato fries heaped beside it do, too.

Reaching out, I steal a fry off her plate and dip it in the cup of chipotle before popping it in my mouth.

She gasps. “Thief!”

I grin. “The fries are good.”

She glares at me, but it has no real heat. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t had the chance to taste them yet.” She picks up a fry and lets out a satisfied hum at the taste. “Are you just going to look at me while I eat?”

I shrug. “Maybe. It’s a damn good view.”

Her cheeks turn pink, and she ducks her head.

“So.” I lean on the table. “I never asked before, but…what made you come back home?”

Hallie looks down at the cup of sauce in her hand. “I was nannying for a family in the city. I’d been with them for a couple years by then. It wasn’t my dream job or anything, but it paid the bills.” She shrugs, looking up at me. “Then one of the dads changed jobs a few months ago, and they decided they no longer needed a nanny. The kids are older now, so…”

My brows raise. “They fired you?”

She tips her head side to side. “Not in so many words. They gave me time to find something else, and they gave me a generous payout at the end. But once I stopped working for them, I realized I felt a little…lost. I had for a while. And when my job search in the city was proving fruitless, I decided maybe it was time to come back.”

“Do you regret it?”

I’m not sure why I ask. Maybe because I need to know she’s not entirely miserable, being here with me. Because I’m the furthest from miserable when I’m with her.

She shakes her head, a soft smile on her lips. “No, I don’t think I do.”

“Good.” Needing something to do with my hands, I grab the salt shaker and spin it between my fingers. “You said you were nannying. What happened to that teaching program?”

“I graduated, but finding a permanent job was hard. Lots of subbing. Then one day, I realized I actually kind of hated it.” She laughs, and I smile. “It wasn’t the kids. As hard as they can be sometimes, I loved working with them. It was more so the school environment I wasn’t a fan of. Nannying seemed like a logical step.”

“And did you like the nannying gig?”

“Much more than the teaching gig. I mean, I helped them with homework and stuff, so it was kinda like teaching. But being in a home setting was much more relaxed and comfortable for me. It made me more comfortable around kids in general.”

I keep spinning the salt shaker. “You’re great with Abbie. She loves you.”

I don’t miss the way her eyes light up at the mention of my daughter, and that sits on my chest, making it hard to breathe. The few times I’ve thought about dating, settling down with someone, I knew she’d have to be the right kind of person. The kind who adored my kid almost as much as I do. Hallie certainly does.