Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“Only my eyes are on you because of the scandalous dress,” I said quietly. “So could you move your hand please? It’s blocking my view. And I need something good to look at if the sermon’s boring.”
Her mouth fell open. “I’ve never seen this side of you, Beckett Weaver.”
“Better get used to it.”
She stifled a giggle as we rose to our feet. “Yes, sir.”
Around one o’clock that afternoon, I was standing at the kitchen counter scarfing down a turkey sandwich and wondering how I could get Maddie alone tonight when I heard the front door slam. A moment later, my niece Daisy came racing into the kitchen out of breath. “Uncle Beckett! I lost another tooth!”
“Did you? Let me see.”
She flashed me a jack-o-lantern grin.
“You sure did. Did the tooth fairy come?”
“No, because I just pulled it out on the way here. See?” She dug the tooth from her shorts pocket and proudly showed it off.
“Don’t lose that, Daisy,” said Mallory, entering the kitchen. “Hey, Beck.”
“Hey.” I took another bite of my sandwich. “You want a little bag for that tooth, Daisy?”
“Good idea.” Mallory set her purse down on the island. “I’ll get it.”
“I was hoping you’d come with your mom today,” I said to my niece. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Who?” Her big blue eyes lit up.
I wolfed down the last of my sandwich. “My friend’s son Elliott.”
Her shoulders sagged a little, her pert nose wrinkling. “Oh. A boy.”
Laughing, I went over and tugged one of her pigtails. “Listen, someday you’re going to love boys.”
“Not today,” she muttered with an eye roll.
“Who’s Elliott?” my sister asked, pulling a small plastic sandwich bag from a drawer. “Here, Daisy, give me that tooth.”
“Maddie Blake’s son. She’s in town dealing with the sale of her mother’s old house, and she brought him along.” I tried to make it sound casual so she wouldn’t get ideas, but her eyes immediately sparkled. “They’re staying here.”
“Ooh. Maddie Blake,” she said dramatically, zipping up the baggie and clutching it to her chest. “I can practically hear your teenage heart beating from across the room.”
I scowled. “You’re as bad as Amy.”
“We had eyes, Beckett,” she said, smiling as she tucked the bag into her purse. “We could see the way you looked at her.”
“Like how?” Daisy asked.
“Like this.” Mallory adopted an exaggeratedly dreamy expression and sighed heavily. “He was in looooove with her.”
“Will you stop dogging me?” I got my sister in a headlock and rubbed her scalp with my knuckles.
“Ow! No, I can’t. I’m your sister.” She wriggled out of my grip. “Where’s Dad?”
“Taking his nap. When he wakes up, snack as usual, and then the afternoon pills. After that you can do whatever.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll be with Maddie over at her old house, working outside. But Elliott can stay here and play with Daisy. I think they’ll get along great. He’s six.”
“Sounds good,” Mallory said. “It’s a gorgeous day, they can play outside.”
“But I brought my Barbies.” Daisy was clearly annoyed that she’d have to forego Barbies to play with a boy. “I was going to set up their jacuzzi on the deck like last time.”
“Actually, Daisy, I think Elliott would love to do that,” I told her. “He also has a unicorn game he can show you, and if you’ll let him, he’d probably braid your hair.”
Daisy’s brows went up. “Really?”
“Really?” echoed my sister, a quizzical look on her face.
“Yeah.” I gestured for them to follow me. “Come on. I’ll introduce you.”
As expected, Elliott and Daisy hit it off immediately. Within minutes of meeting each other, they were giggling away on the deck, unpacking Daisy’s Barbie case and filling the Barbie jacuzzi with water from the hose. Although he’d changed out of his dress and back into shorts and a T-shirt, he still wore the pink boots and unicorn barrette in his hair, and I could see Daisy trying to puzzle out how this boy could be so different from her older brother and every other boy she knew.
“He’s adorable,” said Mallory quietly as the three of us watched them. “And I love the pink boots.”
“Thanks. Daisy is so sweet—this is perfect.” Maddie smiled at her. “You’re sure it’s okay to leave him here?”
“Of course.” My sister shooed us away. “Go. Take as long as you need. Caden, my son, has baseball all day and my husband is with him. We don’t have to be back at any particular time. I can make supper too.”
“Thanks,” I said. “We’ll probably be a few hours, but if you need anything or have a question, just call.”
Outside, Maddie and I loaded up my truck with landscaping equipment, gardening tools, and yard waste bags, and headed out. I tried and failed to keep my eyes from her butt in the short denim cut-offs she wore, her breasts in the tiny yellow tank top, her bare legs, the back of her neck, her hair in a high ponytail I wanted to wrap around my fist. Every single inch of her turned me on.