Chapter One
“Holly Richman, do not make me call the fire department again. Put down that spatula. Now!” Ben crossed his arms over his chest as he glared down at his wife. “You made those poor firefighters leave their Thanksgiving meal ‘cause you wanted to baste the turkey.”
The corner of Ben’s mouth turned up as an amused twinkle appeared in his eyes. “Who knew flames could shoot out of an oven that far?”
Seriously, though, there were a good few seconds Ben thought their house was going to catch fire or at least their kitchen.
However, the moment the words left Ben’s mouth, Holly’s jaw dropped. “You said you weren’t gonna bring that up again. You promised!” She narrowed her eyes on her betraying husband. “How could you?”
He cocked his brow as he pointed to the scorch marks on the wall. “No. I said when the marks fade or get painted over, only then I wouldn’t bring it up.” He walked to the scorch marks before smirking her way. “And there is no way in hell I’m ever letting you paint over them.”
“You jerk.”
At Holly’s angry growl, Ben tried to hold it together. There was nothing better than riling Holly up first thing in the morning. To him, it was always a damn good day when he could get under her skin. Maybe that’s why it was one of his favorite activities.
What could he say? An annoyed Holly was always a fun Holly.
However, before Holly could retort, he grabbed her shoulders, dragging her and the scowling expression of one Holly Richman into his arms. At her annoyed grunt, Ben laughed as he brought his lips down to hers. “Love you, Grace.”
“Screw you.”
As he ignored her annoyance, Ben leaned in lightly brushing his lips to her ear. “It’ll be my pleasure. I think Jimmy has Helen in the back room. Wanna see if we can do a quickie?”
When Ben heard Holly’s breath hitch, he smirked before nibbling on her earlobe.
Well, this morning just got a hell of a lot more interesting.
Sadly, for him, though, Ben’s win was short-lived. Instead of doing what he wanted to do, which was to lift Holly onto the counter and have himself his own Thanksgiving feast, Holly lifted her foot before stomping on his. Hard.
“Oww! What the hell, Grace?”
“I don’t think so.” Holly pulled away and crossed her arms over her ample chest. “You don’t get to make fun of me then go to pound town on my lady bits,” she whisper-shouted at him.
“Pound town?” Ben arched his brow.
“Yes. Pound town. What else do you want me to call it?” Holly’s lips thinned as she glared daggers at him. “I should sic Waffles on you.”
With her threat, both of Ben’s brows lifted in surprise. “Oh, really?”
Instantly, that famous twitch Holly got in her left eye when she was annoyed appeared. Was it wrong of him to want to laugh? Probably, but did that stop him? Hell no.
“Fine. Jimmy then.”
Ben recrossed his arms over his chest as he cocked his head to the side, eyeing her like she was crazy.
“Okay. Whatever. My dad.”
When he didn’t move, Holly threw her hands in the air. “Fine, you jerkface. I’ll do it myself.”
Ready for Holly’s tantrum, Ben had his arms open before the words were out of her mouth. As he caught her with ease, he held her against his body, molding her curves to his front. “You know, Grace, if you’d put this much effort into your cooking as you do trying to get me, you probably wouldn’t attempt to burn the house down as much.”
“You assho—“
“Mom!”
Perfect timing.
As their son Jimmy walked into the kitchen carrying his little sister Helen in his arms, the corner of Ben’s mouth turned up. As carefully as he could, he gently placed Holly back down so she wouldn’t topple over. He knew if he didn’t make sure her feet were on the floor, her ass would have been there instead.
It might be fun to mess with Holly, but seeing her fall over wasn’t in his plans today.
Holly shot Ben a dirty look telling him this was far from over before she shifted to their kids. However, the moment Holly turned with a little too much force, she almost slammed her hip into their kitchen island.
It took everything inside of Ben to not burst out laughing when he saw Holly shoot the island the same glare she’d given him only moments ago.
“Mom?”
With one last death stare at the island, she turned to Jimmy. “Yeah, baby?” As she reached out to take Helen, she sent Ben another glare for good measure.
“What?” Ben smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’ve got her.” Jimmy maneuvered so Holly couldn’t take the little girl. “I changed her diaper but I think she’s hungry. She’s still really fussy. Even Ripley can’t calm her down.”
Ben’s heart warmed as he watched Jimmy hold his baby sister close to his chest. From the moment they’d brought Peanut home from the hospital, Jimmy wanted to be fully involved. He took his big brother role very seriously. At first, he wasn’t as excited about changing diapers, but he insisted on doing it anyway.
Jimmy had come so far since the night of the break-in at the clinic.
Even though Helen was only seven and a half months old, Jimmy was already extremely protective of her.
As Ben leaned back onto the counter, he watched a look of horror appear on Jimmy’s face as he saw what Holly was still holding in her hand.
“Mom, why do you have a spatula?” Jimmy’s huge eyes widened as he turned to Ben. “Dad, is she cooking again? Please tell me she’s not trying to cook. I thought we talked about this? Grandpa Henry was here and everything.”
Ben pointed to the scorch marks on the wall with a smirk. “I think she wants to go for round two.”
Holly gasped. “Both of you can kiss my butt!” She glared at her betraying family before she plucked the baby from Jimmy’s hands. “At least I have you, Peanut. You wouldn’t make fun of your Momma, would you?”
Although the moment Holly had Helen positioned in her arms, the baby looked over her shoulder and right to her father. Instantly, Helen’s eyes sparkled as she reached out her little arms trying to get Ben’s attention.
“Not you too!” Holly’s lips thinned as the little girl made a cooing noise to Ben making her desire clear.
Damn, I love my family. Ben pushed himself off the counter before gently grabbing Helen from his wife’s arms. “She’s a smart girl, Grace. What do you expect?”
“All of you are jerks.” Holly stomped over to the fridge to grab a bottle of milk she’d placed there earlier in the morning. “I get zero respect here.”
To no one’s surprise, the moment the fridge door cracked open, Waffles, Ripley, and Twitch all came running into the kitchen.
“Oh, come on!”
Waffles, ever the one in charge of their gang, took a small step in front of the others. He then pushed himself onto his back legs, making him look like a meerkat, a trick Holly taught him years ago. Ripley instantly followed suit, with Twitch trying his best to do the same all while his little head bobbed from side-to-side.
“Are you freaking kidding me? When I open the fridge that does not mean you automatically get something.” Holly narrowed her eyes at Waffles who dangled his tongue out of the right side of his mouth.