He laughed harder. “Come check this out. I think you get to frost your cookie or brownie, and … there are sprinkles.”
“Yes!” Sophie bounced over, the other two following.
He stepped back to give them full access. They seemed to be getting along famously. He scratched his face and came away with fingernails full of dust. Shoot. Avery was still in the bathroom. He stuck his head in and watched as she removed the last of the blue goo. “Any chance you could help me out?” He pointed to his face.
“Sure.” She motioned him in even as she grabbed a new washcloth off the stack and put it under running water.
He sat once again. “I’m guessing they don’t make you sit on a toilet in a spa.”
She chuckled, wringing out the washcloth. “No. Thankfully, the girls didn’t notice the lack of luxuries.” She stepped forward, hesitating before laying the cloth over his whole face. “Let that sit there for a minute.” Her voice had gone softer.
The sound of girls giggling and making a complete mess trickled into the bathroom, letting him know they were as alone as they were going to get. “I’m sorry I said I was sorry.”
“So you’re not sorry?”
“Not for kissing you.” He pulled the cloth off his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask your permission.”
She took the washcloth from his hand and moved to stand close to him, her leg leaning into his. “I’m glad you didn’t,” she said quietly, her voice intimate.
“You are?”
She began wiping his face in long, soft strokes, folding the washcloth after each pass. “I’ve always thought that it kind of killed the mood for a guy to ask if he could kiss you.”
“Yeah, but if the answer is no, then I’m getting smacked.”
She paused. One hand was on the side of his face, and the other slid behind his neck and into his hair. He sparked everywhere her fingers touched. “Then it’s a good thing I didn’t say no.” She leaned closer, her minty breath brushing his lips. Instead of closing the distance and satiating the growing need he felt for her, she asked, “Excuse me? Can I kiss you?” in a deep voice.
Surprised, he snorted a laugh. She pulled back, grinning in victory.
“Okay. I see your point.”
She went back to cleaning him off. He could only imagine how manly he must look at the moment. Her hip brushed his arm, making him hyper aware of her womanly curves. She smelled clean with a hint of vanilla, and he wondered if he buried his face in her neck if all he would smell was the vanilla.
“I think it was your delivery,” he blurted.
She cocked her hip. “Ex-cuse me? You got problems with my delivery?”
He nodded, taking her hand, and brushed her knuckles with his thumb. He stood, ready to show her how it was done, when the doorway filled with little girls. “We can’t get the movie to work.”
Ben jumped away from Avery, feeling three sets of owl eyes on him. His ears burned like the fires of Hades.
Avery busied herself at the sink, rinsing out washcloths. She kept her back to the girls, letting him deal with the situation.
“I’ll come look at it.” He beat the girls to the remote control on the bottom of the bed. There were cookie crumbs all over the comforter. He’d have to sleep in Savannah’s room and let her have the master tonight, because there was no way he was rolling in sugar. He was going to have a hard enough time sleeping after what almost happened with Avery. He’d had all the right moves mapped out, and the moment was snatched from him like an interception on the one-yard line. His heart rate would not slow down.
“I think the mask worked. You look younger, Mr. Wilaby,” Margo stated.
“I do?” He turned to Savannah for confirmation.
She narrowed her eyes. “Nah. He just looks happy.”
“Aaand the movie’s starting.” He tossed the remote on the bed. The less they noticed about him right now, the better.
Avery leaned against the wall, a knowing smile on her lips.
“Mrs. Croft, come watch with us,” called Sophie.
Avery held up two bottles of nail polish in red and hot pink. “I’ll paint your nails while we watch.”
