His laugh is rich and deep. “Goddess, you would look sexy in a burlap sack.” He’s quiet for a moment as he turns onto the street near my apartment building. “You know, I am looking for someone to cat-sit next week. I’m taking Reece to Disney World as an early birthday present, and my mom is coming with us. My housekeeper comes by a couple times a week, but Honey is still a baby, and I don’t want her to be alone for that long.”
“I can do it,” I say without pause. “We don’t have a game next week, so our practice schedule won’t be quite as intense.”
“Really? Honey is cute but a bit of a menace. She tries to climb on everything, but she’s litter-box trained,” he rushes to add.
“No problem. I can handle it. And have you gotten her something to climb on like a cat tree or kitty condo?”
“No, I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but I can take Reece to the pet store tomorrow to pick something out.” He pauses. “You’re welcome to just stay at my house if you want. That way you don’t have to worry about driving home every night.”
“Oh. Okay, if you’re sure. When are you leaving?”
“Monday morning, and we’ll be back on Saturday.”
“The team is flying home Monday morning, so that will work out perfectly.”
Phoenix turns into the parking garage of my building, waving at the guard as he lifts the gate. I’d put him on my “safe” list with security after our first dance lesson. He parks and kills the engine before swiveling in his seat to face me.
“I’m not sure how much cat-sitters make, but I can look it up and?—”
“You don’t have to pay me,” I interrupt. “I’m just helping out a friend.”
But the hot drag of his gaze down to my tits encased in a tight red tank top doesn’t seem very friend-like. My nipples pop out to say hello to the owner of their favorite mouth, and Phoenix scrapes his teeth along his bottom lip.
Then he averts his gaze, and his voice lowers into a husky rasp. “You better go before I do something we’ll both regret.”
I unbuckle my seat belt and climb out of the SUV, but before I close the door behind me, my foolish mouth speaks.
“Who said I’d regret it, tripod?”
The feral curse I hear as I close the door and stride toward the entrance makes me smile.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Hot dick and Honey
Phoenix
On Sunday evening, I stand in the doorway and watch as Helix reads my daughter a bedtime story. When her eyes drift closed, he trails off and is quiet for a moment to make sure she’s asleep. Then he dips his head and kisses her hair.
I’m so fucking lucky to have him. He treats Reece like his own and asked if he could put her to bed tonight since we’ll be gone for the rest of the week and he won’t get to see her.
My twin tiptoes toward me, and we exit into the hallway, closing the door almost all the way behind us.
“She’s so sweet when she’s asleep,” he says as we descend the stairs.
“Right?” I say with a grin. “I didn’t think she would ever go to sleep tonight. She was too keyed up from the game.”
“It was a good one,” Helix says, following me into the kitchen where we grab a couple beers. “I can’t believe Chicago came back and almost tied it in the fourth quarter. I’m glad the Dragons pulled it out at the end, but I wish it had been a home game.”
Me too because then I could have seen Jordie in person, I think.
We settle onto the couch and watch ESPN and all the game highlights for the day while we sip our beers. There was a great clip ofJordie leaping impossibly high to catch a touchdown pass over the head of her defender.
“Phoenix?”
I turn to my brother to find him pulling at the back of his neck, and I lower the volume on the television.
“What’s wrong?”
