She climbs in and I close the door gently. Starting the ignition, she presses the button to roll the window down. Reaching up, I flip my ball cap around so the brim is facing backward, then lean my forearms against the window sill as she buckles her own seat belt. I’m drawn to her like a fucking idiot moth to a flame. I can’t seem to help myself.
There’s a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and across her cheeks that I can see now that we’re this close, and I itch to trace them with my fingers. They’re half hidden behind the clear acrylic frames of her glasses. I’d always thought her eyes were a dusty blue, but from this close, I know that they’re a stunning, silvery slate gray. And I’m transfixed, totally and irrevocably caught in her gaze.
As always when I’m around her.
“Thank you,” she whispers, those eyes bouncing between mine.
Against my own better judgment, I reach one hand inside and tuck that damn stray strand of hair that keeps falling into her face behind her ear. “You don’t ever have to thank me.”
She nods, ducking her head as a blush creeps up her neck and over her cheeks. Fuck she’s adorable when she gets flustered. I wonder if any of her blushes today are because of what she’d done the other night and the fact that she’d been thinking about me while she did it. I fucking hope so. I want all of her blushes, all of those sexy fucking sounds that no one else gets to hear.
Grinning, I wink at her when she looks back at me. Before she can look away again, I murmur, my voice husky, “I’ll see you soon, Mama.”
I fucking love the way her eyes dilate and those pink lips part when I say that. I noticed it earlier, the way it practically short circuited her brain, and I wasn’t going to let her leave without seeing that reaction again.
Her teeth dig into the plushness of her bottom lip, and I wink again, slapping one hand onto the window sill as I straighten. I waggle my fingers at Penny and Dalton as I step around the hood of the minivan and back onto the sidewalk. Teddy pulls out of the parking spot and I watch her vehicle disappear down the street as I make my way down the sidewalk, back toward Cal, who is now alone and leaning against the side of my truck.
He does, however, have a coffee in one hand and another sitting on the hood of the truck next to him. I must have been gone with Teddy long enough for him to run inside and get our coffees.Whoops. He grabs the one on the hood and hands it to me as I reach him. His hazel eyes are shaded by darkly tinted sunglasses, but the shit eating grin on his face says everything it needs to.
“Shut the fuck up,” I grumble as I step around the hood of my truck. His answering chuckle is devious and makes me roll my eyes. Payback is a bitch. And I gave hima lotof shit about Scottie when they first got together. Dammit this is going tosuck. Have I mentioned Teddy is his younger sister? And I’m his boss?Fuck my life.
I climb up into the driver’s seat and he climbs into the passenger side. I flip my cap around again, so that the brim is once again facing forward, shading my eyes marginally from his scrutiny. I can feel his gaze on the side of my face, but I refuse to look over at him.
My truck rumbles to life and I pull us away from the curb, heading us toward base. Cal takes a sip of his coffee and then drapes his left arm across the back of the bench seat that stretches between us. The truck was my dad’s; it’s a ’93 box style Dodge Ram that’s seen a few too many winters. The black paint isn’t shiny anymore, and there’s some rust over the wheel hubs, but it’s reliable and handles the Washington winter roads well.
“So, is this why you haven’t been staying at base? You got a thing for my sister?” Cal asks, grinning over at me. I grunt. Guess we’re finally talking about this. Cal knows me better than just about anybody. He knows, even if I don’t say it out loud. He knocks his knuckles into my arm, bringing my attention around to him. He’s flipped his sunglasses up to the top of his head, and he’s staring at me, his face drawn and his eyes solemn. “Be careful with her, Xander. She’s been through enough. If you do something to hurt her, I’m gonna have to kick your ass on principle.”
I shift in my seat, tightening my fingers around the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white. “I know,” is my gruff response.
He harrumphs then, leaning back in his seat and taking a long draw of his coffee. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
I shift in my seat and tighten my fingers around the wheel as my heart skitters in my chest painfully.
Shit.
The fucker isn’t wrong.
“Umm, hello hot mama!”
My cheeks heat and I offer Violette a grateful, timid smile as I push Bea’s stroller toward where she is sitting beneath a shady maple tree. Penny spots Hollie in the sand surrounding the playground equipment and takes off with a squeal toward her little bestie. Dalton has his baseball bat and bucket of baseballs clutched in his hands, and he heads over to the field beyond the playground after asking for permission. It’s still early, and we’re blessedly the only ones here.
I sink down onto the wooden bench next to Vi and heave a sigh as I angle Bea’s stroller toward us both, adjusting the shade over her to make sure none of the already hot summer sun’s rays get to her. She fell asleep on the drive over and will be good until she wakes up for a feeding.
“Did you need this?” Vi asks, holding up a bottle of children’s sunscreen. I shake my head.
“Already loaded both kids up,” I laugh, blowing out a breath. She nods, dropping the bottle back into her own bag next to her.
“Can we talk about the ‘fit?Holy hotness,” Vi says, fanning herself as she side eyes me. Her thick, light brown,wavy hair is pulled into a ponytail on the back of her head, the waves waterfalling down her back as she turns her head back to watch the girls as they play. Her legs are crossed at the knee, her legs bare to high thigh. She’s also wearing cutoff jean shorts and a sage green tank top that’s tucked in at the waist. Her feet are tucked into low top chucks and her top foot sways and bobbles slightly. “Am I allowed to say ‘I told you so’? Because ma’am, that outfit is—” she kisses the tips of her fingers and holds them aloft in the pantomime of a ‘chef's kiss’.
I laugh out loud, grinning over at her as I pluck my half empty iced coffee out of the cup holder built into the handle of the stroller. Vi lifts her iced chai to her lips, her hazel eyes coming back to mine. Her face is mostly makeup free, just a touch of blush on her cheeks and some mascara on her lashes. She’s that effortlessly beautiful kind of pretty.
“Did you get hit on?”
I choke on my coffee and splutter slightly, coughing. “Violette!”
“Oh, come on. There’s no way not one hot blooded maledidn’thit on you looking that smokin’.”
“I was wrangling my three feral children while trying to get my coffee,” I deadpan, shaking my head. I can’t stop the blush that creeps up my neck at the memory of the way Xander’s eyes had lingered on me, though. “I’m a hot mess on a good day.”
