Page 34 of Reckless


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Tori

Tiny hands tanglein my hair, and I smile down at Mila. This girl loves playing with my hair almost as much as Codydoes.

“Once upon atime…”

In the soft light of her bedroom, I read as quietly as I can to lull her to sleep. Page after page, I watch her snuggle deeper into her cozy bed. Even though I hate these stories, the kind where the woman is beholden to the man for rescuing her, a teeny part of me loves theromance.

“And the prince saved the princess from the dangerous dragon, and they lived happily ever after. Theend.”

Her eyes are closed, and she’s breathing so deeply, I’m thinking I can sneak out of here when she crinkles her nose and whispers, “Why couldn’t the princess climb outta the castle by herself? Why’d the prince hafta climb in to saveher?”

I smile, loving her inquisitive mind. “Because if the prince had stayed outside of the castle any longer, the dragon would’ve gotten him. This way, the princess is really savinghim.”

My crazy answer seems to satisfy her, and she nods into her pillow with a deepsigh.

When I close her bedroom door, Ethan is tiptoeing out of Cody’s roomtoo.

“Sorry you needed to do double duty today,” he says softly as we head toward the livingroom.

“No worries. I’m glad Cody settleddown.”

Usually, Ethan manages to get both kids to bed on his own, but for some reason, Cody was restless tonight and wanted extra snuggle time with his dad. I was happy to help and read toMila.

Ethan hands me a bag of popcorn when we get settled in front of the TV. He makes a quick call to his mom, and I stifle a laugh when he makes a face at me and says, “Yes, Ma, your pot roast is better,” while he’s shaking his headno.

When he hangs up, I ask how Beverly’sdoing.

“She misses the kids, but she’s long overdue for this trip to see her sister.” He reaches across my lap for some popcorn. “She wanted to know how you like your room. If you have everything youneed.”

I nod, feeling oddly pleased his mom asked about me. “Tell her the amenities are lovely and that I am so delighted someone introduced me to the washer anddryer.”

“Smartass.” He chuckles and adjusts the volume on theremote.

Even though the couch is enormous, he’s sitting right next to me, so close I can feel the heat from hisbody.

I shove a huge bite of popcorn into my mouth to distract me from the clean, masculine scent of his body wash. Being around Ethan fresh out of the shower every evening after work is the hardest part of my day. Seeing him barefoot around his house in jeans and old t-shirts suggests a certain intimacy I don’t really have withhim.

“Mmm. I love kettle corn,” I say around a mouthful. Despite how nervous he makes me sometimes, I force myself to act like I would around my friends in Austin, which means my inner tomboy is at full throttle. Thus, I’m stuffing myface.

He dips his hand into the bag. “Me too. Between our desserts and your dinners, I’m gonna weigh two tons by the end of thesummer.”

“As if. You must burn four thousand calories a day.” It’s true. Ethan works like a dog, slaving from sun-up until sun-down in the sweltering barn. Sometimes after the kids are in bed, he ties the long-range baby monitor to his belt and toils some more. The man has a remarkable workethic.

And I’m guessing remarkablestamina.

I mean, I can onlyimagine.

When a commercial comes on for a concert, I smile at the memories. “Ryan Hunter was so goodlive.”

Ethan turns to me with a nod. “Saw him and his band a few years ago. They kickedass.”

“I didn’t peg you as an alternative music fan.” Ryan Hunter is known for his acoustic style, original songwriting, and his hot AF face andbod.

Though, now that I’m sitting next to Ethan, I’d say my number one celebrity crush has somecompetition.

Ethan shrugs. “Brady got me into his music, strangelyenough.”

I push him playfully. “He got me into Ryan’s music too. I was in my senior year of high school, and Brady wouldn’t shut up about this band he knew fromBoston.”