Heartbreakers: Treat Her Right / Mr November

He almost wished she would, so he’d have a legitimate excuse to seek her out, to touch her.

She no longer intruded. In fact, she seemed to have lost interest in him. Always she’d be cordial, give a wave or a friendly hello, and then she’d move on. She treated him the same as she did the other neighbors, and he didn’t like it.

He’d never known himself to be such a fickle bastard before. But he missed her. He barely knew her and already he’d grown accustomed to her.

As had Dani.

Even now his daughter sat on the kitchen door stoop, wistfully staring at Wynn’s house, waiting for her to appear. Dani missed her. She wasn’t at all appeased by the short friendly chats or casual waves, and that wasn’t something Zack had counted on.

It tore his heart out.

“Dani,” he called, “come on in and eat your sandwich.”

Two seconds later Dani peered in the door. “I’m gonna eat it out here.”

Normally Zack would have been fine with that, but he didn’t want his daughter turning melancholy. “Dani...”

“Wynn’ll need a sandwich, too.”

Zack went still and a strange emotion, one he refused to study too closely, swirled through him. “Is she out there?”

“She’s with a bunch of big men.”

Before his brain and feet could make a connection, Zack found himself at the door looking out. Sure enough, there was Wynn, surrounded by bodybuilders—three of them. All massive, all handsome.

All fawning over her.

He scowled, thinking to duck back inside before she or her cursed boyfriends spotted him.

His traitorous daughter did him in once again.

Dani took two bounding steps down the stoop to the lawn and waved her arms like a windmill. “Hey, Wynn!”

Wynn looked up and her seven-watt smile shone brightly. She patted one of the guys on the chest, swatted at another’s immense back and started in Dani’s direction. Zack couldn’t deny the pounding of his heart. It had been a week since he’d really talked to her, really been close to her. Deny it all he liked, he’d missed her. Maybe even more than his daughter had.

Dani shocked him by rushing to Wynn for a hug.

Wynn didn’t shock him a bit when she bent down and scooped Dani high, tossing her in the air and then hugging her close. “What have you been up to, munchkin?”

“You can eat peanut butter and jelly with me!”

Wynn glanced at Zack, saw the paper plate with the neatly sliced sandwich that he held in his hand, and said, “I love peanut butter and jelly. You don’t mind sharing?”

“Nope.”

When Wynn sat Dani down, she took her hand and stood staring at Zack. He cleared his throat. “How’ve you been, Wynn?”

“Busy. My folks are moving in tomorrow. I had to get everything put away and organized so they’d have a place to store their stuff. This moving on top of my moving is exhausting.”

She snagged the sandwich, handed half to Dani and took a big bite of the other half. “Mmmm. Delicious.”

Zack ignored that to ask, “Who are your guests?”

She gave a negligent shrug. “Guys from the gym. They wanted to see my new house and visit. They’re also going to help me set up my patio furniture. I bought a picnic table with an umbrella and a glider and chairs and tables. I’ve got some plants, too. I can’t wait to see it all together. The delivery truck should be here soon.”

“It takes three giants to set up lawn furniture?”

Her eyes sparkled at the acrimony in his tone. Hell, he’d sounded almost...jealous.

Enunciating each word carefully she said, “They wanted to see my new house, too.” Then she added, “You do have a problem listening to me, don’t you? Or rather, you only hear certain selective parts.”

Dani said, “I’ll help, too.”

“I dunno.” Wynn pretended to study her. “I need strong laborers. Let’s see your muscle.”

Dani immediately flexed her skinny arm. She tucked in her chin and puffed out her cheeks and ground her teeth, with no visible effect.

Still, Wynn made approving sounds and squeezed the non-existent muscle. “Wow. All right, I think you’re strong enough.” She glanced at Zack. “That is, if your dad doesn’t mind.”

“He don’t mind.”

“Dani.” She had jelly on her upper lip and a pleading look in her big blue eyes. He meant to reprimand her further, but she looked so cute...

“Please,” Dani begged in her most hopeful tone.

Wynn chuckled at her theatrics, then leaned toward Zack, her hands clasped together now that she’d finished her half of the sandwich. Mimicking his daughter to a tee, she pleaded. “Pretty please, Zack. C’mon. We’ll be careful. And I promise to watch her real close.”

Zack eyed Wynn. She wore a baggy gray T-shirt today with denim cutoffs. She was barefoot, her frizzy flyaway hair in a ponytail on the very top of her head resembling a frazzled water fountain.

In a different way, a funny way, she was the most appealing woman he’d ever seen.