The clear love in their small family unit touched her. Yes, he was incredibly sexy in his rumpled creator persona but she somehow found his clear affection for his children even more attractive.
“Grandma said we could interrupt your writing for five minutes to tell you we both got parts inThe Karate Princesses,” Finn informed him. “I’m one of the karate guys.”
Finn slid down out of his father’s arms to repeat his fancy martial art moves, earning a smile from Andrew.
“Impressive. What about you, Z?”
“I’m one of the three princesses. We have to save our whole kingdom from some bad guys who want to take it over.”
“I’m not a bad guy, though,” Finn assured them all. “I help the princesses.”
“That’s a relief,” his father said.
“Rosie said she might try to come. And maybe Olive, too,” Zara announced.
“I hope I can make it,” Rosie said, determined to juggle her schedule, if at all possible. How could she disappoint the children?
“Okay, you two,” Nancy said. “You told your father your exciting news. We need to go practice your lines and let him get back to work.”
“I’m nearly done for the day. I have a marketing phone call in a half hour, then I’ll be home after that. Thanks for picking them up, Mom.”
He kissed his mother’s cheek, then turned to Rosie after his family left the kitchen.
“It was very kind of you to agree to go to the play, but you really don’t have to. I’m sure you have other plans.”
What other plans? The ever-present yard work? Her social life was not exactly packed right now.
Maybe she ought to look into the dating apps, as her mother had recommended. Maybe that would help her get over this silly crush on her neighbor and client.
“I believe I will have Olive all that night since her mother will be working late at the bookstore. I think she would love to see it, especially because she considers Finn and Zara her friends. They’ve been so kind to her. She and I can make a night of it and maybe go to dinner after the show.”
She almost invited him and the children to join her but at the last minute common sense intruded.
“Sounds lovely,” he said with a warm, slightly distracted smile that made her remember his mouth on hers.
She quickly drew herself back to the job at hand. “Actually, I was hoping I would run into you. I didn’t want to interrupt your work, but I do need to talk to you about the tile in the third-floor guest bathrooms. Do you mind taking a look with me?”
“We can look, I suppose, but I know nothing about bathroom tiles.”
She was fiercely aware of him as they walked up the two flights of stairs to one of the guest bathrooms.
“Your designer picked these small period subway tiles in the shower surrounds but this particular kind is back-ordered,” she said. “Eddie, the tile subcontractor, is suggesting two alternatives to choose from. I’ve sent photos to Yvette and she said either one would work and that you can choose which one you like best.”
She held out the sample boards for his perusal.
Andrew made a face. “Do you really think I care what kind of tile we end up with in these two bathrooms? I will probably never even use either of them.”
“You might. Who knows? Maybe five years from now, youwill walk into one of them, look around and decide you hate every inch of it. Then you’ll have to pay someone to come and tear it all out again.”
“I can one hundred percent guarantee that is not going to happen. I am more likely to take up competitive yodeling in the Swiss Alps. Why don’t you decide? Which one would you pick if this were your house?”
He winced as soon as the words were out. “I’m sorry, Rosie. I totally forget this oncewasyour house.”
She gave him a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to apologize. I had to let go of my dreams for this house a long time ago.”
“But what if you hadn’t? Which one would you choose?”
She looked at the two samples, holding them up against the paint swatch. “If this were my house, I would probably go with this one, with the gray marbling. I think the other one is too dark for me, but that’s my taste, not yours.”