Love Restored (Gallagher Brothers #1)(53)

He’d call that progress if he could figure out the path he was on.

“We’re here!” Rowan said as she bounced around him, though he kept his hand on her shoulder so she wouldn’t fall. “Mom said we’re going to the salad place for lunch.” She crossed her eyes. “I hate lettuce, but I like putting things on lettuce. And then after you eat your salad, you can have soup and mac and cheese and chili and rolls and cornbread and pizza and cookies and sweets and then ice cream. All because you ate a salad!”

He couldn’t help but laugh as she kept going on and on about the things she’d have at the salad place. He wasn’t a fan of lettuce either, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Rowan that. If this were one way to get the kid to eat her vegetables, he’d take Blake’s side on this. Plus, he knew from experience, the more you filled yourself up with salad, the less likely you’d be to eat too many sweets and carbs afterward.

“Are you hungry, then?” he asked as she twirled around on one foot, pretended she was a ballerina.

“Starving,” Rowan said as she put the back of her hand to her forehead and pretended to swoon. “But Mom said you’re going to show us the place she grew up in first.” Rowan quieted down and toed one foot along the sidewalk. “Is that okay?” She leaned forward and beckoned to him, so he bent so she could whisper in his ear. “Will it make Mom sad if we look?”

And with that, he fell for Blake’s little girl just as hard as he’d fallen for Blake. That Rowan would want to take care of her mother’s feelings above all else spoke of how Blake had raised her.

Graham kissed her little cheek and gave her a fist bump. “We’ll take care of your mom,” he whispered back, not quite answering the question. He wasn’t sure how Blake would feel, but if she was here at all, then she was set on showing Rowan around. Graham would help them then because they couldn’t be alone. Not now. Not ever.

Blake cleared her throat. “Hi, by the way.”

He straightened and slid his hand on the back of her head before bringing her closer. “Hi.” He kissed her softly then, aware that it was the first time he’d fully kissed Blake in front of Rowan. “Welcome back to the site.”

Blake’s eyes widened, and she gave a cautious look in Rowan’s direction. Graham looked as well, and only saw stars in Rowan’s eyes. Blake’s whole body stiffened, but Graham did his best to soothe her. He might have made a mistake kissing Blake in public, but he wouldn’t take it back now.

He’d fallen in love with Blake Brennen. Her daughter, as well. Now he just had to figure out what to do about it.

Graham took one of her hands and held out his other toward Rowan. “Ready for the tour?”

Rowan slid her small hand into his and nodded, a bright smile on her face. “Yep! Do I need a hat like those guys?” She pointed to his crew, who were working hard and doing their best to try and look like they hadn’t just been staring their way.

Graham shook his head. “We aren’t going inside, actually. I’m going to give you the tour from the outside in the safe zones. When we get closer to being finished, I’ll take you and your mom inside.”

Rowan looked so disappointed, he had to hold back a laugh. “But I’m sure I can find a hard hat that fits you if that’s what you really want.”

The little girl raised her fist to the air and cheered while Blake groaned.

“What?” he asked.

“She’s going to want to wear that around the house now,” Blake said dryly. “She’s already been using my measuring tape from the toolbox to measure things for you to build or fix. If she picks up a hammer, I’m afraid my little girl is lost to the construction bug, and I’ll have to be worried for my drywall.”

Graham chuckled but led them to the trailer anyway. “If she’s going to want to play, I might as well teach her a bit how to be safe about it.”

“I know a little home maintenance, but not enough to feed her curiosity I don’t think.”

Graham nodded. “Then I’ll help.”

Rowan walked into the trailer first to meet with Owen, who gave her a high five and knelt down to talk hard hats and tablets. That gave Graham enough time to kiss Blake a little harder and smile.

“Hi again.” He brushed her hair back from her face.

“Hi,” Blake breathed. “And stop that.”

“Not going to,” he promised.

“We’re going to need to talk about this,” she warned.

“Good.” Because they needed to for sure. Something was changing between them, and though he’d told Owen it wasn’t serious, that had been one hell of a lie.

Graham looked up as his brother walked toward them, his phone in hand. “I need to answer this. Have fun today.” With that, Owen left, and Rowan started to wander around the small trailer that hosted their office on-site. It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.

“I’m going to go get you both a hard hat,” he said with a smile.

“I don’t need one, do I?” Blake asked as her phone rang. “I thought we weren’t going anyplace she could get hurt.”

Graham shrugged. “If she wants one, there’s no harm in her wearing one. As for you, if she’s wearing one, you’ll look cute in it. Now, answer the phone, and I’ll be right back.”