He studied her for a long moment, seeming unmoved by her rationale. “Sure, we’ve both got some years on us, but hopefully we’ve got some years left, too. You can’t stop enjoying life just because of some date on your driver’s license.” He pushed off the wall and walked over to where she was standing. “We are not too old to enjoy a hot kiss. And we are also not too old to enjoy more than kissing, if you’re interested.” He winked as he headed past her and out the door. “Just to be clear... I am very interested.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ZOEY STARED AT Hazel’s tablet screen in something close to horror.

“You want a black ceiling in your bedroom?” She’d promised her room would be next, and Hazel had been putting together her wish list.

“A black ceiling with glitter.” Hazel swiped from one photo to another on the screen. “See? You can buy the special flecks of glitter and add it to the paint. I’ll run strings of those soft LED fairy lights around the top of the walls and the whole ceiling will sparkle at night.” Hazel was kneeling on her bed, gesturing around the room. “It’ll be the perfect background for my videos.”

Zoey stared up at the currently normal, boring white ceiling. It was an old house, and the ceilings were tall—probably ten or eleven feet. A dark ceiling might make the room feel cozier. And she had promised that Hazel could pick any paint color she wanted. She never thought to exclude the ceiling from the list of options to be painted, but a deal was a deal.

“We’ll need to use a lot of drop cloths, and we’ll definitely want to do that first, before we tackle painting the walls. What color are you looking for there?” Zoey was almost afraid to ask.

Hazel grinned, scrolling on her tablet again. “Look at this deep pink, Mom. Isn’t it gorge? And a perfect background color for my videos, right?” She rushed on before Zoey could answer. “If we could find a bed like this one...” She pulled up an image of a massive upholstered bed, studded with crystals. “It’s just like the one Marina Lee has on that fashion video account, remember? It’s sick.”

Zoey did not remember. At this point, all she could see were dollar signs.

“Hazel...honey... I know I gave you free rein on paint...” She was already regretting that. “But there is a limit to the budget. I want you to be happy with the room, but we may have to compromise on a few of these items. Deal?”

Hazel’s eyes went wide. “You mean I can do the black glitter ceiling?” She gave a wordless squeal and jumped into Zoey’s arms.

“AND THAT’S WHEN I knew I’d been played.” Zoey set her coffee down and sighed.