Written with Regret (The Regret Duet #1)(49)

I shook my head. She was funny.

I fucking hated that she was funny.

Predominantly because I fucking loved that she was funny.

She turned around to where Rosalee was standing in the hallway, holding Alejandra’s hand.

“Bye, Rosalee. See you in few days, okay?”

“Don’t forget. I want to draw the horn.”

“No prob, Bob.”

Rosalee cackled. “My name’s not Bob!”

I couldn’t see Hadley’s face, but I could hear the smile in her voice. “All right, all right. See you later, alligator?”

Rosalee beamed up at her. “I’m not an alligator, either!”

“See you soon, baboon?”

“Hadley!”

“Gotta go, buffalo?”

My girl doubled over in laughter. “Buffa-what?”

Hadley kept going. “Take care, polar bear? Better shake, rattle snake? Be sweet, parakeet?”

Rosie was laughing so hard that she couldn’t even get a reply out.

“How about this, then?” Hadley cleared her throat and bowed low. “I’ll see you soon. Have a g-llama-rous day.”

Okay, fine. She was funny…and a touch weird.

Rosalee loved it. After rushing forward, my little girl threw her arms around Hadley’s legs, squeezing her tight.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my whole body coming alert. It wasn’t long and lingering the way she hugged me, but it was huge no matter what package it came in.

At least in my eyes.

Rosie sprinted away, casually calling, “Bye, Hadley,” over her shoulder.

Alejandra came forward with wide eyes and her signature gentle smile, closing the door.

Hadley and I stood there in silence for several beats. She had her back to me, her chest rising and falling with labored breaths, the emotion swirling around her nearly choking me.

“Hadley?” I whispered.

Her red ponytail swayed, and she slowly pivoted. A huge smile showed on her face along with a stream of tears.

“Are you okay?”

She swiped at her cheeks. “Yeah. I just… I really love that kid.”

I had a daughter; women crying were my kryptonite. Or that’s what I told myself as I shoved a hand into my pocket to keep from reaching out to her. “She seems to be pretty fond of you too.”

She pointed to her face. “See, this is why you can’t be nice and walk me to my car. Some walks of shame are best done alone.”

Shame. Shit. She thought crying because her daughter had hugged her was somehow filled with shame. If she only knew all the times Rosalee had cut onions in my eyes over the years.

“Why’s it a walk of shame?” I asked. “You just drew a phenomenal unicorn butt. It should be a walk of pride.”

She laughed, using her shoulder to dry her face. “You’re right. Maybe I’ve missed my artistic calling all these years. R.K. Banks is nothing but an imposter for the real UK Bottoms.”

My brows shot up. “UK Bottoms, really?”

“Eh. It was the best I could come up with on short notice. I didn’t want to go with the obvious Hairy Butts.”

I blinked, and her only reply was a shrug.

Hefting her bag up on her shoulder, she started toward her car.

I fell into stride beside her. “Well, I’m glad we could help you sort that out. You can mail my consultant fees directly to my office.”

“Oh, please. You haven’t seen my bill for the art classes yet. Let’s just assume they cancel each other out.”

“Fair enough.”

When we reached her car, she leaned inside to put her bag on the passenger seat. Then she propped her arm on the door. “Can I ask for a favor?”

Here it was. The moment Ian and Doug had warned me about. A week of good behavior and she was now going to ask for a favor. A loan maybe, though I’d looked up her paintings online and she’d been telling the truth. They sold for a hot penny even at resale.

“Sure,” I replied tightly.

Her gaze drifted from the house to the ground before coming back to me. “I was wondering if you’d be okay with me calling her Rosie sometimes.”

My head snapped back. “What?”

“The last thing I would want to do is upset you or her. And I promise you I would never dare tread on Rosie Posie. That’s special and all you. But I’ve heard Alejandra call her Rosie a few times and I like it. My family was big on nicknames.” She swallowed hard and chewed on her bottom lip before continuing. “I don’t think I ever remember my dad saying Hadley. It was always Haddie. Anyway…I completely understand if you’d rather me not. It hasn’t been long but I thought—”

That all-too-familiar guilt settled in my stomach as she prattled on and on about a damn nickname. To my knowledge, no one had ever asked me if they could call her Rosie. It was simply the logical shortened version of Rosalee.

“Hadley…” I trailed off, unsure of how to say, Holy shit, you don’t have to ask me permission for something so small, all the while maintaining boundaries because the next thing she asked for might not be so small.

“You know what, forget I asked. We can have this discussion in a few months when things aren’t so…new.” She climbed into her car and started to shut the door when I caught the top of it.