Her smile widens as she turns to her father, whose attention is drilled on me. Seriously, why is he staring? I motion my head toward his kid.Look alive,dude.
His eyes shift to Mila, and I’m taken aback by the love that floods his expression. She asks him to take a photo with her, and he nods and scoops her into his arms, presses a kiss to her forehead, and reaches for the cell in his backpocket.
I look away, not needing to see some sentimental moment between thesetwo.
Even though Ethan seems to have a stick up his ass, the living room is welcoming with cozy, overstuffed couches and a big flatscreen TV. Along the far wall is a stone fireplace with a mantel full of photos and horsetrophies.
When we pulled up to the ranch, my sister said this property has been in Ethan’s family for threegenerations.
“Your house is gorgeous, ma’am,” I tellBeverly.
Her face lights up. “Ethan did all therenovations.”
He sets down Mila and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Ma, you know I had somehelp.”
I ignore the shiver that runs through me from the sound of his deepvoice.
Beverly points down the hall. “He installed those beautiful counters in the kitchen, expanded the house, knocked down walls, added the bedrooms along the East side—the whole shebang. He really is veryhandy.”
Too bad he’s a dick.I smile awkwardly and nod, turning my back so I don’t have to look at Ethan and his throat-punchingpresence.
My sister tries to scoot off the floor, and I roll my eyes and rush to help herup.
“No more sitting on the floor,” I groan as I steady mysister.
When Izzy grabs her mom’s hand, I finally let go ofher.
“I told her to sit on the couch,” Logan says, rubbing his jaw the same way his brotherdoes.
Logan gives me a shrug and a wink, and I can’t resist smiling back. He’s a carbon copy of his brother except his eyes are lighter, and he’s leaner.Not to mention nicer.Ethan is all brawn with hard muscles, tattoos, and a roughness I can’t reallyexplain.
It’s crystal-clear the Carter brothers are total lady-killers.
That means it’s time togo.
Because I’ve had my fill of these kind of guys for at least alifetime.
5
Ethan
My mother stirsthe pot on the stove and hums in the back of her throat. “Isn’t Tori apeach?”
“Stop it,Ma.”
“What? Ethan, she’s adorable. Did you see the way Mila lights up around her? I feel better about going to Chicagoalready.”
Propping my hands on my hips, I drop my head back with a sigh. “I’m not hiring her.” Even though it kinda kills me notto.
I don’t exactly have a string of available babysitters on call, and I’m not dumb enough to think I can take care of the kids on my own when my mom leaves. Why did I have to be such an asshole to Tori thisafternoon?
“That girl is exactly what we need around here. She’s sweet as pie with the kids and doesn’t put up with yourmalarkey.”
“What are you talkingabout?”
“I heard what you said to her. All that bark, like you were trying to scare her away, and she just dished it right back. Not like Allison, who told you what you wanted to hear until she lost her noodle over somethingsilly.”
That’s because Allison never let anyone see the real her. In private, she nitpicked me to death. Nothing was ever good enough or nice enough. To everyone else, though, she pretended things were fine because she wanted them to think she wasperfect.
