She gives me a shy smile. “Giving me the hard sell,huh?”
I try not to think about all the hard things I’d love to give her. “Just keep me posted about your apartment situation. I’d hate to loseyou.”
See, I can keep thingsprofessional.
The room quiets as we return to the baseball game. She keeps making those eager noises as she eats her ice cream. I can’t decide if giving her Ben & Jerry’s is the best idea I’ve ever had or the worst as I try to ignore how much those sounds remind me ofsex.
Christ.Maybe I do need to get out more, but I’d rather endure my mother’s henpecking knitting circle than go on a blinddate.
A few minutes later, Tori closes up the pint and relaxes back. “I practically ate the whole thing. Guess I didn’t realize I was thathungry.”
“What’d you eat for dinner?” I know she mademebrisket, but what did sheeat?
She shrugs and doesn’tanswer.
“Tori.” I wait until she looks at me. “What did you eat?” I study her again, realizing she looks thinner than she did last week. If she’s on some dumb diet when she’s already a beautiful woman, we’re gonna havewords.
“PB andJ.”
That’s not the answer I want to hear. “Why didn’t you have a real dinner? Some brisket? You made enough to feed an army.” Roasted corn and summer squash. Fresh-baked rolls. Homemade cookies. It was ridiculous. Ridiculously delicious. But the leftovers barely fit in myfridge.
She shakes her head—at me, at herself, I’m not sure. “I’m going to my sister’s thisweekend.”
“Okay.”
Her cheeks redden and her voice drops down to a whisper. “I wanted to make sure you and the kids and Logan had enough to eat while I wasgone.”
Well,damn.
I don’t think. I just react, pulling her into a side hug. “That’s about the nicest thing anyone’s done for me in a long time, darlin’. Thankyou.”
Her hand looks small on my chest, her body tiny nestled against mine. She’s still for a second and then she hugs me back, and I can feel her smile against me. “You’re welcome.” God, she’s cute. And fuck, she smells good, like summer and sunshine andcoconuts.
I lean away and give her a stern look. “No more skipping meals or eating sandwiches on my account. If you want something else to eat, then go for it, but your wellbeing is just as important as my family’s, okay? Don’t skimp at dinner so we can eat the next day. That’s unacceptable. And Logan can get his own damn meals over the weekend. He doesn’t even livehere.”
“Yes,sir.”
Chuckling, I let her go, immediately wishing I could hold heragain.
“Please don’t exhaust yourself on our account. If you’re too tired to make dinner, we’ll order pizza or the kids can deal with my mac andcheese.”
When she agrees, I nudge her with my elbow, and she nudges me back, and I try not to think about how much I like having her here next to me. The fact that the woman worried enough about me and my kids to cook up a small feast proves how wrong I was about her when we first met. God, I was such a cock. This girl is amazing. Thoughtful. Sweet with mykids.
Sexy ashell.
As we watch the game, I mull over the reason she says she didn’t eat tonight. It doesn’t explain the rest of the week or why she darts off to her room in the evenings, but I think I’ve pushed her enough fornow.
When I get up for a beer a little later, I make a couple of brisket sandwiches and place one on the coffee table in front ofher.
I park myself on the couch and nudge her again. “This babe I know makes me the best food. You really should try herbrisket.”
Tori laughs and shakes her head. To my delight, she eats thesandwich.
14
Ethan
Not even forty-eight hours later,I find myself looking out the window, glancing at the front door, listening for signs of a car or truck along thedriveway.
