“Yes, we’re heading there as soon as we’re done here,” I murmur, hiking Bea’s car seat back up my arm. I’m going to have welts in the crease of my elbow by the time we leave here.
The barista smiles kindly at me as she places the two waters on the counter in front of me. “Thank you so much. Here, Penny, here’s your water—” I say, reaching for one of the clear plastic cups, the lid and straw already in place—bless the barista's heart—and hand it to her. I hand Dalton the other one, then grab up my iced coffee that has been waiting for me. “Okay guys, head to the door. Penny, you stay close to me and Dalton and Aunt Scottie?—”
My left arm still cradling Bea’s car seat handle, I shift my iced coffee into that hand, holding it aloft over Bea as we make our way toward the door. I’m sure we’re a sight. Dalton pushes the door open, and Penny sees her chance, yanking her hand out of Scottie’s and darting out the door into the blinding sunlight.
“Oh for the love of—” I growl, lunging forward.You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. This child. The sun blinds me momentarily and then I hear Penny’s shrill scream, and my heart stops as I rush forward.
“Do I need to get a leash for you? I know we talked about this a few days ago, Miss Penny.”
My heart thunders back to life with a vengeance as I recognize that voice. I step out onto the sidewalk and shake my head. Xander has Penny lifted in his arms—upright this time instead of hanging upside down—but those intense blue eyes of his aren’t on my runaway daughter, they’re on me.
I glance over at Scottie, who is standing behind Xander, and she winks, grinning widely, before waving bye to the kids and stepping over to where my brother is climbing out of the passenger seat of Xander’s truck parked nearby. He waves briefly, but then his attention is on his lady as she stops in frontof him. His mouth drops to hers as she steps up on her tiptoes to meet him. I blush and look away, my gaze colliding with Xander’s again.
His gaze runs from my head down to my toes and back, taking in all of me, before they come back to mine. My breath stalls in my throat at the intensity in his eyes as he stares at me. Heat settles low in my belly and I blush, remembering what I’d been imagining him doing to me just last night…
Blinking, I drop my gaze shyly, and then mentally take stock of my outfit; Violette has been daring me to wear outfits way outside my comfort zone and I’d been brave this morning while dressing, but now, with Xander’s eyes on me, I’m freaking the fuck out.
The skintight, square neck tank top style bodysuit she’d talked me into buying is sucking my gut in and snatching my waist like a paid actor, and also pushing my tits up like crazy. White and ribbed, I hadn’t even worn a bra underneath—brave of me, I know—the stretch and compression top notch in this contraption. The bodysuit is tucked into a pair of high waisted, light wash cutoff jean shorts that leave little to the imagination, but Vi had said they make my ass look amazing. I’d reapplied my sunless tanner on my legs, so at least they don’t look pale, and my toes are painted Funny Bunny white, peeking out of my flip flops.
My hair is down and curled in slight waves around my shoulders, a small claw clip securing it half up and away from my face. I’d even managed to put on makeup today, which I’m extremely thankful for now, with Xander still staring at me with that intense heat in his gaze. He’s just so unfairly attractive.
One of his well-muscled forearms is banded beneath Penny’s bottom like a seat, his large hand spanned wide across her leg to hold her up. I huff out a heavy breath as I move toward him and Penny, who is looking properly contrite. This child is going to be the death of me.
My mouth opens to scold Penny for taking offagain. Before I can make a sound though, he takes me completely by surprise when he steps forward, straight into my bubble, and reaches for the handle of Bea’s car seat without a word. My hands move without any conscious thought from my sluggish brain at having him so close, and I move my iced coffee from that hand back to my free hand, allowing him to slide the handle off my arm. The crease of my elbow has deep red marks on it now from holding the handle for so long, and instinctively I straighten my arm down at my side to try and return some blood flow to my numb arm.
I watch as his fingers grip the handle of her car seat tightly, holding her down at his other side, making sure to angle her away from the sun. His eyes never leave my face, which makes me blush hotly and I drop my gaze from his.
Ugh, but his body is just as nice to look at as his face though, covered in army green tactical cargo pants that fit his thighs and hips, and a tightly fitted black t-shirt with the Sky Ridge Hotshot emblem on his left pec. His usual baseball hat is on his head, shielding the upper portion of his face from the midmorning sun as I peek back up at him shyly.
He nods to Dalton. “Hey, Champ, why don’t you take that diaper bag from your mom so she doesn’t have to carry everything on her own? We should always help out when we can.”
Dalton nods, eyes wide, but I murmur, “No, that’s okay, I’ve got it?—”
“Hey.” His eyes laser focus on mine, stopping my stammering words. “Let us help you, Mama.”
I hear variations of Mom and Mommy all day long, every day. But this?
Mama. The way he says it in that husky, intimate rasp, has completely short circuited my brain. All I can do is stare up at him dumbly before nodding.
I drag the diaper bag over my shoulder and hold it out toDalton, and he places it on his shoulder. His body dips slightly with the weight, and I instinctively reach for it again, but Dalton just assures me with a grin, “I’ve got it, Mom!”
I swallow hard, letting my hand drop to my side. I feel naked now, with no diaper bag, car seat, or toddler attached to me like usual. I’m left feeling incredibly self-conscious and fully second guessing my outfit choice now that I don’t have my built-in shields up. So I smile gratefully down at him, even if my lips tremble just the slightest. “Thank you, bud.”
“Now you can take a drink of your coffee before it starts to melt,” Xander says quietly, notching his chin toward the drink in my hand. I laugh nervously. What must that be like? To drink an iced coffee before it melts or a hot coffee before it gets cold?
He chuckles then, the sound deep and soothing, his eyes crinkling at the corners with his smile. “Teddy, I can see your brain buffering because it’s such a foreign concept to you. Take a drink. Where are you parked? I’ll walk you.”
I dutifully take a sip of my coffee, the caramel sweet cream lighting up my tongue. Gosh that’s good when it’s fresh and not all melted. Some of the cream sticks to my upper lip and I lick it away quickly, daring a glance up at Xander again.
But those eyes of his are no longer on mine; no, they’re on my mouth, and the heat in that gaze is enough to scorch me alive.
Jesus fuck.
The tip of her pink tongue flicking out to lap up that frothy cream from her top lip is damn near my undoing. Especially after the way my mind had conjured up what that mouth could do to something else…
I swallow reflexively, and I can physically feel the knot in my throat bob at how difficult it is to swallow around. My mouth is bone dry, though I panic momentarily that I might actually be drooling. I’m acutely aware of the fact that her brother is standing ten feet away.
The second I saw her walk out of the coffee shop, my brain—and all my good intentions about staying away from her—went straight to hell. That damn tank top thing she’s wearing should be illegal. It’s cock-teasingly tight and the way it cinches in her waist and pushes up her tits… I can imagine the soft, stretchy material being pulled down when she has to nurse Bea, who is babbling and cooing from the car seat suspended in my hand. Fuck me.
