Saving a Legend(21)

“Every week?” Kieran’s face held a look of mock surprise. “Then it won’t taste as good.”

“What do you mean?” Shea’s eyes went wide, and her mouth was full of cookie dough bites.



“This much chocolate is only yummy if it’s a treat every once in a while. If you have it every week, it’s going to be boring.”

“It’s yummy right now,” she challenged him, taking another large bite. Fiona smiled, knowing Kieran was never going to convince Shea not to eat sugar. She might have her off moments, but she was still a child.

“Because it’s new. Have you ever had the same food over and over and it starts to taste the same each time?” Kieran asked her.

“I eat the same things all the time,” Shea said slowly, seeming to put a lot of thought into it as she did. She looked like she was rethinking everything she’d been doing, and it made Fiona nervous they might be pushing her too far.

“So how was school, Shea?” Fiona hoped to change topics. Kieran looked at her questioningly, but she ignored him.

“I don’t like math. I’m no good at it,” Shea announced.

“I can help you with that,” Kieran said.

Fiona looked at him with lifted brows. “You want to do homework?”

“Sure, I’ve always liked math. I’ve got a degree from NYU in economics and finance,” he said as Fiona sipped the last of her smoothie.

That impressed her. She hadn’t given it much thought until then, but she was surprised that this man who did simple construction work had also gone to college. He looked like he took more time chiseling every muscle on his rock-hard abs than he ever did reading a textbook. The revelation made her slightly self-conscious about her lack of higher education but even more intrigued by him. “You went to NYU? Wow, that’s quite the accomplishment.”



He just shrugged like it was nothing, which irritated her a bit, because it would have been everything to her to have that kind of background.

“Where did you go?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I didn’t. Had to work.”

“You have definitely done well without it,” he said simply before turning back to his yogurt and finishing the last few bites. “So, why flowers?”

This time it was her turn to shrug. “They make people smile just by being there. They don’t have to try or perform—they just exist, and that’s enough. I like the idea that something can be so loved just for being itself.”

Fiona looked over at Shea as she thought about how much she loved the little girl exactly the way she was.

“I’m finished. Can we go home?” Shea asked, dropping her spoon into her empty bowl.

“Sure, let’s throw away our trash.” Fiona stood and helped Shea drop her empty bowl into the trash can. Kieran followed closely behind them as if this was a date. She’d warned him she didn’t date, and she wasn’t about to change her mind even though she definitely wanted to run her fingers across the ripples on his biceps. “Well, thank you for the yogurt. It was very nice of you. I’m sure we’ll see you around.”

“Oh, you will, especially since I’m walking you home.”

Fiona paused on the sidewalk. Shea had already opened her e-reader, walking and reading at the same time.



“We’ll be fine, there’s really no need. Thanks for the offer, though,” she told him, but he just shook his head and smiled.

“I would never hear the end of it from my mother if she found out I’d let two ladies walk home unescorted. So I’m not asking you, flower girl, I’m telling you. I’m going to walk you home.” He walked past her with a charming smile and caught up to Shea.

She’d never let anyone take care of her before, and his insistence was both irritating and exciting. It made it that much more difficult to stick to her no-dating rule, though. Fiona scurried to catch up to him and Shea as a warmth began building in her that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

—

“So you’re walking us home because you’re afraid of your mom,” Fiona said with a teasing smile a few minutes later as they turned a corner and headed in the direction of her apartment. At least he’d assumed that’s where they were headed. He found himself wondering why she didn’t live closer to the flower shop and the youth center, since she was at both so often and would want to be near Shea. Instead, they were headed in the opposite direction.

“She’s a scary woman to cross,” he admitted with a grin.

“Oh.” He studied her face for a moment, and she actually looked disappointed. Maybe she was hoping for some sappy answer from him, but he wasn’t going to give it to her. He’d already put himself out there enough; it was her turn.