“Don’t let her,” my sister murmurs in my ear. “Her feet and ankles are swollen, and I know she’s hurting.”
“Our first flight was late, and the gate for our connecting flight was all the way on the other side of the airport,” Charley says. “We had to hustle to not miss it.”
“Our girl was waddling,” Georgia adds. “It was cute, but I felt bad for her.”
“Why didn’t you get an employee to drive you guys?” I ask my sister. “I don’t like that she had to walk that far in a hurry.”
“Calm down, killer.” Charley giggles. “There was nobody around, and we didn’t have the time to waste waiting to find someone.”
“Okay, well, if you got that, I’m gonna head home,” Georgia says, patting me on the back. “Wanna get home to my man.” She waggles her brows, the insinuation loud and clear.
Holding up a hand, I say, “I don’t need to know.”
My sister laughs, then leans in and murmurs, “Yeah, whatever. I heard a lot about you that I didn’t need to know either.”
“Georgia!” Charley hisses.
I chuckle, my cheeks heating. “And that’s my cue to go inside. Bye, Georgie.”
My sister laughs. “See ya!”
Strolling in the house, Charley and Biggie aren’t far behind. “Want these in your room?” I ask.
“Sure.”
After I drop off her luggage, I pad out to the living room again, finding Charley sitting on the couch, scratching the dog’sback as he attempts to lick kisses all over her face. “Somebody’s happy to see you.”
She breathes out a laugh. “Well, I missed you too, big guy.”
“Oh, just him?” I ask teasingly as I walk into the kitchen.
“Of course not.” Charley glances over her shoulder, a playful smile curling her lips. “I missed Ellie Mae too.”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” I snort. “You hungry?”
“I’m starving. The last time we ate was this morning before checking out of the hotel.”
Lifting my gaze to meet hers, I suck on my teeth. “Charley, you need to be eating throughout the day. And drinking water.”
She grins and rolls her eyes. “Okay, Daddy, I’ll be better.”
As if realizing what she just said, Charley’s eyes widen, and she smashes her lips together. The color staining her cheeks is visible from all the way over here, and it’s adorable. Heat spreads through my veins, and even though I’m sure she meant it in an innocent, playful way, I can’t deny how sexy that five-letter word sounded rolling off her tongue.
Breathing out a small chuckle, it’s clear she doesn’t know what to say, so I let her off the hook when I ask, “How’s grilled cheese sound?”
She clears her throat and nods. “Um, yeah, that sounds good.”
“Want soup with it? Or chips?”
“What kind of soup do we have?”
Grabbing the sourdough loaf from the breadbox, I set it on the counter and say, “There’s leftover roasted red pepper soup from last night that I made, or chicken noodle.”
Charley scrunches her nose up as she ponders. “The roasted red pepper sounds amazing. I’ll do that.”
Opening the fridge, I ask, “Tomato or no tomato on the sandwich?”
“Tomato on grilled cheese is criminal, Graham,” she mutters.
