“Or at all,” she chuckled. “Liam has requested that I go to your parents’ house and have your mom teach me how to make soup. Do you think you could hang out with him while I’m gone? Make sure he doesn’t do anything he’s not supposed to?”
“Man,” he whined. “Do I have to? He doesn’t even have a TV!”
She picked up the paper and slapped it against his chest. “Do the crossword.”
Leaning over, she pressed a kiss to my lips, slipping her tongue into my mouth, before pulling back just a scant inch. “Behave.”
“We’ll see.”
She tweaked my nipple before hurrying away, shooting me a wink over her shoulder.
As soon as the door closed, my good mood vanished. “Let’s get to work.”
14
BAILEY
“Hello!”I called out as I walked in the back door of the Parker family house. “Clara?”
Country music blared through the house. There was no way she’d hear me if she was anywhere near the source of the music. Kicking off my boots, I headed inside, peeking into the kitchen to find her singing along to the radio as she kneaded dough on the counter.
As she spun around, her arms in the air, waving wildly as dough was flung from her fingertips, she gasped. “Bailey!”
A grin slid across my face as she rushed over to the radio and turned it off.
“Sorry. I didn’t know you were coming over.”
“Liam sent me. Apparently, he wants soup, and since he doesn’t trust me to cook anything unless it comes out of a tin can, I’m here to learn.” I eyed the dough all over the counter and winced. “If you’re available.”
“For Liam? I’m always available. Lord knows that boy has put me through enough heart attacks in his lifetime,” she said, scurrying over to the sink to rinse her hands. “The four-wheeler incident in fifth grade? I told his father not to get them for the boys, but he didn’tlisten. And then in seventh grade, when he was flung off that horse…I really thought I would lose him that time.”
“What about when the wire went through his hand?”
“That was child’s play,” she chuckled. “Anyway, if he wants soup, I’ll need to run to the store. Despite what the men in this family think, I don’t have everything they need lying around to be chopped, peeled, and cooked at a moment’s notice.”
“Why don’t you make me a list of what you need, and I can run into town while you clean up.”
Her shoulders deflated. “Would you do that?”
“Of course.”
“That’s so kind of you. If I asked anyone else in this family, I would get a million excuses why they couldn’t.”
“Well, since I’m not part of the family, I have to earn the right to tell you no,” I winked.
“Not in the familyyet,” she corrected. “Give it time.”
Hurrying over to the counter, she grabbed a pad and paper. “Alright, let’s see…”
As she jotted down notes, I took a moment to use the bathroom, and by the time I was out, she was shoving the paper into my hands and scurrying me out the door.
“I’ll be ready by the time you’re back.”
“No problem.”
The door swung shut, and as I turned to leave, Krista appeared right in front of me, scaring the shit out of me. “Krista!”
“Going somewhere?” she asked, snatching the paper out of my hands.
