I didn’t have to turn to know River was choked up at her son’s words when she told him, “Thank you, but you two make my life worth living and me stronger for having you in it.”
Tears pricked my eyes. God, they were killing me.
Chapter Thirteen
RIVER
He fit right in.
I stared at Huntley like he’d grown three heads as he and Bre won yet another game. I’d like to say my daughter was humble, but she was gloating and tossing their wins in Lennon’s and my face. The man himself, he smirked at all of it.
It dawned on me just how sexy and handsome he was with that devilish smirk on his face. He was hard not to look at with his strong, heavily stubbled jaw, dark hair and piercing green eyes that noticed everything.
Every time I caught him looking at me throughout the night, I felt my skin heat and a tingle raced through me. I had no clue what to do with that.
“Mom, can we watch a movie now? This winning thing is getting old,” Bre teased.
“Aren’t you a funny one,” Lennon told her.
My son, despite losing, had a good time. I could tell. He didn’t mind his sister's teasing and would do anything to put a smile on her face. Those two had it as tough as I had growingup but at least they’d had each other. And they were thick as thieves.
Bre gave him a smug smile. “I thought so.” She looked at me, waiting for an answer.
“Sure, go ahead.”
She grabbed her brother's hand, pulling him from his chair at the dining room table where we had been playing. “Come on, I’ll let you pick the movie just to make you feel better.”
“Wow, thanks for taking pity on me, sis,” he mocked as they walked away.
I watched them go, then I felt that heat again and turned my head to look at the man sitting across from me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I blurted nervously.
He shook his head slightly. “I just can’t get over how free the three of you are during game night. It was great to witness.”
Huntley was right. I dropped my gaze to the table, unsure what to say. We probably seemed like entirely different people but that was because we were comfortable with each other. And we let him come. We trusted him to see us like that and were comfortable enough to drop our shields.
“There is one other thing.”
My head snapped back up at his soft, gravelly voice. Our eyes met and held, just like my breath as I waited to see what he was going to say.
“You’re beautiful.”
All the air left my lungs and my eyes widened. A weird sensation struck every nerve in my body. Those butterflies were back as I felt my cheeks grow warm.
I sat dumbfounded, not able to speak. Thankfully, I was saved by a knock on the door.
Jumping from my chair, I yelled, “I’ll get it!” And I ran. Not just for the door but away from the man who’d just rocked my world.
Checking the peep hole, I saw my sister and threw the door open to find not only her, but Stormi too. They would serve as the perfect buffer.
“Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?” Lake asked as she and her daughter stepped inside.
Looking over my shoulder to make sure nobody could hear me, I leaned in a little toward her and whispered, “He said I was beautiful.”
Lake giggled and clapped her hands. More clapping followed and I looked down at my niece.
She looked up at me, a confused expression on her face even though she had joined her mother in the crazy celebration over one sentence. “Why are we clapping?”
