“I really like her, sir. I’d like to keep getting to know her, but she insisted that I meet you guys before we made anything official.” Henry looked at my daughter, and it was clear he was smitten with the way his eyes softened as his grin grew.
I don’t like it one bit…
I looked at Ginny with a smug smile of my own. “What happens if I say I don’t like him?”
She snorted. “Mom likes him.” She shrugged.
“You’re too much like your mother.” I rolled my eyes, but I knew I was defeated.
Ginny was in love. She might not have even realized it, but I could see it. The way they looked at each other made that clear.
It wasn’t too late to scare him off, but I’d have to be sneakier about it, since Ginny’s heart was involved. I’d be watching the boy like a hawk.
I looked at…Henry. “I’ll be watching you very closely.”
“Fair. I’d expect nothing less. I promise, I won’t hurt Ginny. You have my word.” He stuck his hand back out, and this time, I took it.
It was hard not to like his answers, but that didn’t stop me from squeezing his hand just a little more than necessary to remind him I was a threat.
“I should help your mother cook dinner before she burns the house down,” I said as I crawled out of the hot tub.
I took the stairs to our bedroom to dry off and change, and by the time I made it downstairs, Avery was cursing as the smoke alarm went off.
“What’s going on?” I hollered over the beeping.
Avery opened the oven door, and even more smoke spilled out.
“Don’t touch that. I’ll get it.” I took over, not wanting her to hurt herself, and removed the questionable item from the oven.
Avery opened the door as I grabbed a towel and fanned smoke away from the alarm. When it didn’t stop, I grabbed a chair and removed the smoke alarm from the ceiling, ending the horrible noise.
“I’m so sorry,” Avery said, laughing so hard, she was crying. “I thought I set the oven to 350, but—”
“350?” I snorted, looking over to where the bright numbers read ‘550.’ “Baby, we need to get you some serious help. Gordon Ramsay would have a field day with you.”
She giggled harder, doubling over as I neared her. “I wanted a nice dinner for us. I watched the video twelve times, Ro.Twelve.I was ready for this one.”
I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll grab some frozen pizzas from the deep freeze.”
It was the stash I kept for when Avery insisted on making meals, because nine times out of ten, we ate pizza. When she first started cooking, I’d tried to force myself to eat whatever she made, but she berated me for lying, saying I needed to be honest with her—and that she’d tried her own food and knew it was terrible.
“So…what did you think about Henry?” she asked, looking up at me through her lashes.
I shook my head. “I don’t like him.”
She pursed her lips and raised her damn eyebrow again. “And why not?”
“He has too many tattoos,” I said matter-of-factly.
Avery scoffed. “You have a lot of tattoos.”
“Yeah, but I spotted one on his arm. It was a fox.”
“Is there something wrong with a fox?”
“Ginny’s favorite animal is a fox, Av.” I sighed. “Why does this boy already have something she likes permanently tattooed on his body?”
“Do you really have any room to talk?” She pulled away and lifted my shirt.
