Needs A Little TLC (Spinning Hills Romance 2) by Inés Saint

her.”
    Sam and Heather exchanged a look. “Uh, no, I don’t. But I bet if I met her, I’d like her, too.”
    Jake wiggled out of Sam’s arms. “Can I watch TV before dinner?” he asked before running to the living room and picking up the remote control.
    “Half an hour only,” Heather called after him before turning to Sam.
    “I’ve got to get back. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned the knob, but wasn’t quick enough.
    Heather moved to lean on the door and block his way “Why are you in such a hurry?” Her eyes twinkled in a way Sam didn’t like. It was the twinkle of a meddler.
    “Your apartment smells like new. It gives me hives,” he joked. His love of old and weathered and her love of shiny and new had been among their differences.
    “So, Cassie and Jake met and he liked her. You don’t have to hide anything from me, Sam. I’d be thrilled if you two work things out.”
    Sam raked a hand through his hair. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re my ex-wife. Can you please act like it?”
    “I’m dating and you don’t mind. It makes things easier.” She shrugged. But when Sam turned the knob and gently tried to open the door, dragging her along with it, she leaned back, hard, and shut it again. “Whether it’s Cassie or someone else, I want you to find someone. I want you to be okay, and I want you to know I’ll be okay.”
    Sam sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was make things awkward with Heather, too. Only honesty would do. “Cassie and I have a business partnership, as I’m sure you’ve heard,” he said, pointedly. “Anything else is long dead, okay? Including friendship. It’s been ten years.” Sam held Heather’s chin up and looked into her eyes. “And I haven’t been holding a torch.”
    Heather brushed his hair out of his eyes and it pierced his heart. Tenderness always hurt, for some reason. “I know. But you two had a real spark, and it was based on a deep, long-standing friendship. I know you aren’t carrying a torch, but that doesn’t mean the spark was extinguished.”
    They did still have a spark. But that didn’t mean much. A spark could light up or fizzle. Fizzling was safer.
    He had to shut the meddlers in his life down. As much as he hated to hurt her, Heather would be the easiest to stop. “Of all people, I married you. A spark can’t survive that, Heather, and I’m more than okay with it. Thanks to you, I have everything I need or want.” He looked over at Jake.
    “Have you guys even talked about the past yet? She borrowed your car and never returned with your uniform. You never told her you got kicked off the team and lost your baseball scholarship because of her. You’re adults now. Maybe if she knew that, she’d understand.”
    “You’re biased. I’m not. One was an oversight, the other was a betrayal.”
    “I’m not judging her, Sam, God knows I can’t, but it wasn’t an oversight. It was selfishness on her part. Whatever was going on in her life, she shouldn’t have let you down like that.”
    Sam had nothing to say to that, because he’d never found out what exactly had been going on with Cassie to have her pull away so suddenly and completely. All he knew was that in the end, he’d been the one to cause the most pain.
     
    Jessica was on her way out just as Cassie was getting back. “Sorry, I have to leave early today. Billy doesn’t have practice. How’d it go with the munchkins?”
    “I met Sam’s son.” Cassie shrugged.
    Jessica sat down, keys in hands. “Oh honey, was it tough?”
    “You don’t have to sit or ‘oh honey’ me. I’m fine. It kind of came as a shock at first, though I knew he existed, but he’s such a little Amador . . . it’s hard not to adore him on sight. He had me smiling the moment he opened his mouth.”
    “As I recall, it was hard for you not to adore their adult versions, too.” Her mother’s unmistakable voice came from the half-open door.
    “Mom!”
    “Mrs. McGillicuddy!”
    “Why