M: Thank you. Wine tonight?

Another long pause. There clearly were lines, and they were both terrified of them.

Z: Sure. In the shop. 8?

M: C U there

She’d never specified the shop before. It was always a given. But now that he’d been in her bedroom, she must think she had to clarify. He’d love to visit her bedroom again, but Zoey had Hazel on school nights. He frowned to himself as he sorted through the folders on his desk.

Mike understood why Zoey wanted to keep their, um—benefits...from Hazel. But it complicated things. Anything they did, no matter how casual they insisted it was, would impact Hazel. And if it became more than casual? Hazel was a great kid—funny, kind, creative. But thirteen was a complicated age, and her life was already complicated on top of that.

Would Hazel ever be ready to accept Mike—or any man—into Zoey’s life? Would she welcome him showing up at her breakfast table just because she knew him? Or would she do everything in her power to end things? He headed to the small conference room in his office to get ready for the appointment.

He’d never considered the ramifications of dating a single mom. The word dating was a stretch after just one night, but if it ever reached that point... He hadn’t thought he was ready to become a father with Becca, so what made him think he could be a stepfather? Aw, hell. He was getting way ahead of himself—something he’d always counseled his clients not to do. Be prepared, but don’t respond to things that hadn’t actually happened yet. He needed to heed his own advice. One step at a time.

MIKE WAS SO distracted when he arrived at Zoey’s that night that he almost didn’t notice the big elm tree had been cut up and wood stacked near the driveway. The morning after the storm, Owen and Zayne were so busy with tree work around the area that they’d simply cut enough of the tree to be able to drag it off the driveway and away from the house, promising to return later. He was glad to see they’d kept that promise.

He parked his SUV by the barn and, instead of texting a joke, just walked right into the shop. Zoey was at the workbench along the back wall, and spun with her hand on her chest.

“Holy hell, Mike!” She shook her finger at him. “You scared the daylights out of me. Since when do you just burst in without at least knocking?”

“I’m sorry.” He raised his hands in front of him. “I was thinking about something else, and honestly—” he grinned “—I was kind of in a hurry to see you.”