Page 255 of Safe With You

Mila nodded.

“See?” Renee looked at Luna. “Somebody appreciates me.”

I lowered my head to hide my smile, but Luna bumped her knee against mine under the table. When I looked at her, she gave me a warning look.

I smiled anyway.

Her knee stayed against mine.

And somewhere between Renee insisting Mila needed another roll and Marcus asking me about photography, I stopped thinking about the fact that this was the first time I’d met Luna’s parents.

It didn’t feel like an interview. Nobody was asking what my intentions were or trying to decide whether I belonged at their table. They were just making room for me and Mila, and somehow that felt better than anything they could’ve said.

She was listening to something her mother was saying, one hand wrapped around her glass. She laughed, her head tipping back slightly.

I’d seen Luna behind the counter at Chapter & Charm, tired after closing and nervous before our first date.

Here, she was somebody’s daughter.

I liked getting to know her too.

“Did she tell you she used to alphabetize her books?”

My attention shifted to Renee.

Luna’s head turned slowly. “Mama.”

“What?”

“Why are you telling him that?”

“Because we’re talking about books.”

“We were not talking about books.”

“We are now.”

I smiled. “How old?”

“Ellis.”

I looked at Luna. “What?”

“Don’t encourage her.”

“I’m asking a question.”

“You know exactly what you’re doing.”

Renee laughed. “She had to be eight or nine. Had this little bookshelf in her room, and every book had a place.”

“That sounds normal.”

“It would’ve been if she didn’t notice every time I moved one.”

“I knew where my stuff was.”

“You were nine.”