I bite my lip to stop keep from laughing as Levi rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
“That was our secret, Jellybean,” he says to her.
She looks up at him. “How’s he ‘posed to know I’m going to be good?”
I snort and can’t help the laughter bubbling out. Levi joins me inside, which leaves Ava staring at us with a confused look.
“What’s so funny?” she asks.
“Nothing, sweetie,” I tell her. “Do you know I make cookies especially for the good girls that visit my workshop?”
She squeals and does a little jump before she remembers herself and puts on a more serious face. “Thank you, Arlo. I’d love a cookie.”
“They’re on that plate over there,” I say, pointing to the plate of Nankhatai cookies on the desk.
Levi sighs as Ava runs to get them. “I wish I could say her bubbling personality is unique to her, but sadly she gets it from me. I was worse at her age. Or so I’m told repeatedly by Liv. She thinks Ava is an angel.”
“Do you have a big age gap?” I ask. Liv was one of the first people I met when I moved to Stillwater. She welcomed me with a warm hug and an open invitation to taste test her cookies any time, which makes her one of my top five favorite people in town.
“Five years, which in her head means she’s earned her mother hen title.”
“She said your mom lives on the West Coast.”
“Yeah, she went to live with my aunt when my dad died. We try to see her at least once a year.”
There’s an awkward silence, and I kick myself for bringing up his family. I know I’d run from talking about mine, so why am I asking about his?
“Um, would you like a cookie? They’re a recipe I learned when I lived in India. They’re not super sweet, but the spices and pistachio nuts really make it.”
“Thank you. So what do you do in your workshop? It looks very professional.” He looks around at the various half-finished pieces scattered around.
“I create decorative pieces using different materials and techniques I learned during my travels around India. The wings I made for Ava are just an example, except those are lighter because of the wire frame, so they can be played with. I can also make them as wall decorations.”
Levi takes a cookie from the plate, and I’m glad to have a worktop between us because his moan goes straight to my dick. Talk about inappropriate timing.
“Fuu—dge, these are amazing,” he says, catching himself.
“Daddy, you nearly said a bad word,” Ava chides. “Arlo, do you have a swear jar? Daddy sometimes forgets he’s not allowed to say bad words.”
I smile at the little firecracker working her way through my cookies. “I don’t, but I’m sure we can come up with something.”
Levi stares at me with wide eyes.
“What? You know what you did.”
“So it’s two against one, is that it?” he crosses his arms over his chest, and my brain conjures more inappropriate thoughts. Thoughts that I’m sure Levi has caught from the way he’s looking back at me when I meet his eyes.
“Do I smell Nankhatai?” I look toward Fletch’s backyard door and see him walking over with his seven-year-old son, George.
“Hey, G-man, what’s up?” I say as Ava shouts, “Gigi!”
Ava leaves her half-eaten cookie on the plate and runs over to hug George before they disappear inside the house.
“I guess they must go to school together,” I say.
“Yeah,” Levi replies.
He has his eyes on Fletch, who, as usual, is totally unaware of anyone that might find him otherworldly good-looking. Levi’s reaction shouldn’t surprise me, but my stomach sinks a little, nonetheless.
