I shook my head. “No, Knox. I don’t. I freaking love presents.”
It was true. I did.
Warner had half-assed his way through the past few years of Christmas and birthdays, making me feel materialistic when I’d shown any disappointment at the thoughtless gifts in the wrong sizes.
Knox cracked a half smile. “So, where’s the funding coming from for this spree? I know what you make at Honky Tonk.”
I craned my neck to make sure Waylay was still inside. She was trying on a braided headband in pink and purple. It looked freaking adorable, and I itched to go in and drag her to the counter with it.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I sold my wedding dress.”
“Things that bad?” he asked.
“Bad?”
“You just sold a wedding dress to pay for your niece’s back-to-school shit. You don’t have a phone. And you don’t have a car.”
“I have a phone,” I said, digging out Liza’s old Blackberry and holding it up in his face.
&n
bsp; “The letter E just fell off the keyboard.”
Damn it. E was in a lot of words.
“I don’t need your judgment. Okay? Today, the priority is school stuff for Waylay. I’ll figure out the rest. So you do your thing, and I’ll shower my niece with stuff.”
That half smile was back and it was wreaking havoc with my nervous system. “Deal.”
I headed toward the store, then stopped short to admire the window display. A wall of hot, hard chest crashed into me.
“Problem?” Knox asked. His beard tickled my ear.
I turned around to face him and gritted my teeth. “You’re not going to leave us alone today, are you?”
“Nope,” he said, walking me backwards into the store with a hand spread across my stomach.
I thought for sure we’d lose him in the first tween store, but he’d stuck through all of them. Including the shoes. He’d even voiced a few opinions when Waylay asked for them and he’d made faces at her to keep her entertained while she got her ears pierced.
She was glowing. Her frosty “don’t care” demeanor had started to thaw on the second pair of shoes and had melted into a puddle when I insisted she get the sundress with pink and yellow flowers. And that was before Knox had whipped out his credit card when she gasped audibly over a pair of hot pink sneakers with bedazzled flowers.
“Why do you keep feeling your forehead, Aunt Naomi?” Waylay asked.
“I’m trying to see if I have a fever because I’m definitely hallucinating.” The only alternative was I’d accidentally managed to fall into an alternate timeline in which Knox Morgan was a nice guy who liked to shop.
We ran into Waylay’s friend Nina—with the nice breath and black hair—from school. I was happy to be introduced to her dads, Isaac and Gael, who seemed to accept it when Knox introduced himself only as our ride. Nina asked if Waylay could go to the arcade with them. I gladly said yes and was exchanging phone numbers with Isaac when Knox pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet.
“Go wild, Way,” he said.
“Wow. Thanks!”
“Don’t buy too much candy,” I called after her. “We haven’t had dinner yet!”
She waved over her shoulder, a gesture I assumed meant she had no intention of listening. I turned on Knox.
“Why are you still here? You’ve shadowed us to every store. You keep checking your phone like you’re a teenager. And you haven’t bought yourself anything. You’re very confusing and annoying.”
His face remained stony, and he didn’t answer.