“Grandma!” Jensen hissed.
Irma shrugged. “What? A woman’s got needs.”
“Tucker Harris, you put me down.”
I gave her pert ass a little pat. “Oh, I’ll put you down.” I strode towards the door. “Noah, can you open the back door for me?”
Jensen fisted my shirt, trying to wiggle out of my hold. “Tuck! It’s forty degrees out there.”
Noah bounded over and opened the door. “Where are you taking Mom?”
“I’m taking her swimming, little man.”
His nose wrinkled. “Isn’t it kind of cold to go swimming?”
“Her temper needs a little cooldown.”
Noah nodded as if he understood, and I headed out the back door.
Jensen let out a series ofoomphsas I jogged down the back steps. At the center of a large, manicured yard that led up to rolling pastures dotted with a variety of animals was a pool. One that hadn’t been closed up in preparation for winter yet.
Jensen pinched my side. “If you throw me in that pool, my revenge will be so epic, you will be paying for it for decades.”
“You talk a big game for a very little girl.”
“Stop calling me little, I’m five-eight.”
“Still tiny to me.”
She tried to wrench herself from my grasp, but I held firm. “That’s because you’re a giant. An unnatural behemoth.”
I chuckled. “Now is that any way to talk to someone you’re trying to convincenotto throw you in a pool?”
“Tucker…”
I paused at the edge of the water that did, in fact, look freezing. “What’ll you give me if I don’t?”
“I won’t murder your ass.”
“That’s not very nice.” I started to tip Jensen towards the pool.
Her fingers dug into my back. “No, no, no! Okay, fine, whatever you want.”
“That’s better.” I backed a few steps away from the pool. “Now, what could I possibly want? Free scones at the Kettle for life?” I slowly eased Jensen down the front of my body. I should have tossed her in the damn pool. Having her come after me hellbent on revenge would’ve been a lot safer than the delicious friction of her curves sliding down my front.
My muscles tightened as her face came level with mine, that tempting mouth just a breath away. She leaned in closer, her lips skimming the shell of my ear. “If you come around my shop asking for free food, I’ll make sure yours is laced with ex-lax.”
I let out a strangled laugh as Jensen gave my chest a hard shove and headed back towards the house. I rubbed a hand over my stubbled jaw and grinned. She might be pissed as hell at me, but at least there had been some life in those eyes again. The dullness that had been plaguing them lately always made me want to punch something.
The girl I’d known all her life had a wildness to her. An unnamable quality that couldn’t be tamed. She’d lost that over the past year, that wildfire in her eyes, gone. And I’d do whatever I could to help her get it back.
Walker moved through the back door as I headed up the steps. “What was that all about?”
I shrugged. “Just trying to startle some life back into her.”
Walker chuckled. “You’re lucky she didn’t knee you in the balls.”
I winced. “I know how to protect the family jewels.”
