Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 135831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“You know what that means, Kade?”
“What?” he asks, bouncing on his sneakers.
“You’re a savory,” I declare.
He scrunches his brow. “That’s a weird word.”
Sophie runs a hand through his brown curls. He’s the spitting image of her, but with a more golden complexion thanks to his dad, who was Puerto Rican. Good guy who adored my sister, but he died when Kade was one. “It means you like salty snacks more than sweets,” she says.
“I like sweets too though,” he says, then his whole face lights up. “We should get ice cream.”
Sophie yawns. “It’s late, baby. I need to get to bed. And so do you. I’m a bad mommy for letting you stay up this late.”
“Nah, good moms let their kids watch hockey,” I say to Kade, because it’s not that late. We had a five-thirty puck drop on a Wednesday night, so it’s almost eight forty-five. “Which is why I’ll take you out for ice cream tomorrow. How about I pick you up from daycare and we can do it then?”
Kade pumps a fist. “Yes!”
“Max,” Sophie chides.
“What? Ice cream is always a good idea. Grandma and Grandpa can come too. And we can taste test the sweet and salty flavors,” I say to the little guy. “Then you can meet Athena.”
“Who’s that?”
“A kitten I’m fostering,” I say, then whip out my phone and show him a pic.
Sophie checks it out too, but she’s yawning again. I nod toward the end of the corridor. “Let’s get out of here,” I say. “I’ll drop you guys off.”
“But we’re all the way over the Bay Bridge,” she protests.
I roll my eyes. “Like I don’t know that.”
“It’s not drop-off territory. We can take a Lyft,” she says.
That’s way too pricey. “Nope. I’m driving, and that’s that.” It’s said like there are no two ways about it. I set a hand on her back and head down the hall. I’m almost out of here, when Everly pops out of the media room, calling out to someone in there, “We’ll talk tomorrow, Jenna.”
“See you then,” Jenna calls back. Pretty sure she works in Everly’s department.
When Everly spins around, her gaze lands on me. Surprise registers in those brown eyes, but she composes herself quickly as her gaze swings to Sophie then Kade, then me. Damn, she looks good tonight in those trim, dark gray slacks that hit a few inches above her ankle, exposing the skin of her lower leg, making me wonder for some annoying reason how her ankle would taste.
Floral? Tropical? Like a summer garden? An orange blossom? The sea? A hunger rolls through me as I imagine brushing my lips over that ankle, ideally while she’s wearing only those impossibly sexy black heels. I bet she’d taste like…a garden bursting with flowers in June.
A rumble works its way up my chest, and I tamp it down before it makes landfall. I tear my eyes away from her legs, dragging my gaze up to her face, like that’ll snuff the lust. But goddamn, her eyes are so expressive. They’re big and brown, deep pools that flicker with emotions, amusement, or excitement, depending on what’s going on inside her. She has zero poker face. She can’t hide her feelings because of those eyes.
Right now, there’s curiosity in them. “Hi, Max,” she says, her lips curving up. “I was looking for you. Thank you for the cake. It was delicious.”
I’m picturing her eating it, licking frosting off the fork seductively, her tongue flicking over the tines. This is getting to be a bigger and bigger problem, so I give a casual, “No problem.” But I replay my response. Ah, hell. I sound like a jackass who thinks he did her a favor by sending cake. It was a thank-you gift. I need to make that clear. “Thanks for the save. In Seattle.”
“Happy to help. It’s my job. And it did, in fact, help me work on publicity plans,” she says, then shifts her focus to Sophie and Kade. “This must be your sister and nephew?”
And the door slams shut on my desire. My hackles go all the way up. Does she think my family is part of her publicity project? No fucking way. “Don’t get any ideas,” I warn her.
“Um, I was just going to say hello,” she says, a little defensively.
But I don’t trust her. Or anyone.
Sophie sets a hand on my forearm through my suit jacket but directs her attention to Everly. “Forgive him. He’s part Doberman.”
“What’s the other part, Mommy?” Kade asks eagerly.
“Honey badger?” my sister suggests.
“Black bear?” Everly asks next.
“Snow leopard?” Sophie offers.
“Ornery kangaroo,” Everly suggests, with some finality.
They are having entirely too much fun at my expense when the fact is I have a right to be concerned. But first things first—this convo. “All right, all right,” I say, pushing my palms down, the sign for that’s enough. “I’m not a kangaroo.”