“Six.”
“I’ll be there.”
He chuckled. “I knew you would be.”
I arrived bearing bags of fresh tortillas, plus the extras I had suggested, the packages heavy with containers of salsa and guacamole. I put them in the neat kitchen, grinning at the piles of ingredients Ronan had brought, then joined my brothers on the floor to build Lego stuff with Evan. He was a shy kid, small for his age, but he was intelligent and smart, and after a while, he lost some of his shyness, his smile reminding me of Beth’s.
I was drawn to Paige, my gaze falling on her over and again. She met my stares with her own frank appraisals, and my body warmed to her ogling. Something passed between us every time our eyes locked, and more than once, I had the urge to find an excuse to get her alone in another room. My fingers longed to touch her, and I wanted to feel her mouth underneath mine. But what stopped me was the little girl perched on her mother’s knee.
Lucy was a walking sunbeam. She stared at all of us “giants” in wonder, her grip on the little teddy in her hand tight. She looked like Paige other than her eyes which, strangely enough, reminded me of my own. She was tiny and sweet, and I could see how much she wanted to join us, but I figured the sheer size of the bunch of us was holding her back.
I pretended to fumble with a couple of pieces and met Lucy’s gaze. “I need help, Lucy. My hands are too big.”
She hesitated, then slid from her mother’s lap and came over to me. I couldn’t hold back my smile as she took the pieces I offered and snapped them together, then handed them back.
“Good job, Munchkin,” I praised, noting how she used the partial limb to hold the pieces in place. “Maybe you want to help me some more?”
She pursed her lips, then nodded. “Otay.”
I lifted her over my shoulder, setting her on my lap. “Okay.”
She regarded me seriously. “You hafta hold Mr. Teddy.”
“I can do that.”
“He only has one arm like me.”
“That makes him extra special.”
She scrunched up her nose, looking adorable. “Yeah?”
“Yep. And do you know what I brought for an extra-special little girl?”
“What?”
I leaned down, keeping my voice low. “Chocolate milk.”
Her eyes widened and her smile broke out. I swear the sun had nothing on this little angel’s smile. I wanted to bask in the warmth of it.
Grinning, I handed her another pair of bricks, watching as she looked them over, then snapped them together. I met Paige’s eyes, the quiet hope and happiness reflected in her gaze. I nodded slightly, and she smiled, dropping her eyes to her glass. She knew what I was telling her without words.
I was serious about this.
Later, as my brothers and I chopped and prepped, nudging one another out of the way, laughing and teasing, I grabbed the bottle of wine to refill the girls’ glasses. I swooped Lucy off the counter onto my shoulder, grinning at the way she clutched my hair for balance.
I caught the tail end of a sentence as I walked into the living room.
“He is one hell of a man,” Paige hummed.
I couldn’t stop my grin as I filled their glasses. I noticed Paige’s flushed cheeks and glanced up at Lucy with a wink, teasing, “I think your momma was talking about me again.”
Paige tossed her hair, the light shimmering on the dark strands. “I don’t think so.”
I laughed, knowing I was correct. Beth and Paige as well as the kids had been invited to brunch on the weekend by my parents. “So, Sunday, I’ll be here about nine. We can have coffee before we head out.”
“I don’t recall inviting you,” she retorted, a smile playing on her lips.
I turned and walked away, making sure to hold tight to Lucy. “You were planning on it. I was just saving you the trouble.” I disappeared into the kitchen, and I heard her huff.
“Incorrigible,” she muttered.
She hadn’t seen anything yet.
It appeared that Lucy decided I was okay. Maybe even more than okay. She barely left my side, wanting to sit next to me at dinner, and finally slid onto my lap. I pulled her plate beside mine and made sure she got enough to eat. I rolled her tacos extra tight so she could easily eat them with one hand. She liked it when I called her Munchkin, her nose wrinkling in delight. Paige watched us, her gaze alternately amused, worried, and downright anxious. Given the little I knew of her history, I assumed her worry had a lot to do with her ex. I would have to prove to her I was nothing like him. It shocked me a little how imperative that was already, but it didn’t cross my mind to try to pull back.
Somewhere, somehow, I knew how important these two ladies were going to be in my life.
Chapter Three
Liam
Thursday afternoon, I finished a meeting with a potential client. He wanted all the existing gardens and lawns torn up and a completely new design for a set of buildings he had purchased. The gardens were overgrown and choking themselves. He wanted large pathways, with plants that encouraged bees and other insects important to the ecosystem, yet still appealing to the eye. I had sketched out a few ideas and planned to head to my office in Port Albany and draw out more detailed drawings. Mr. Simpson had been enthusiastic, as had his wife, who it seemed would be the one making the final decision. I could see their vision clearly and had lots of ideas on how to make it come to life.
As I drove toward the highway, I realized how close I was to Paige’s house. I glanced at the clock, seeing it was almost noon. I knew she worked from home, and on a whim, I swung by one of my favorite deli places and grabbed some sandwiches with chips and cans of cold soda.
I pulled up in front of her house, climbed the steps, and waited patiently after knocking. I could hear her moving around, and she opened the door, a surprised look on her face when she saw me. She was in a pair of dark pants with a pretty blouse in blues and greens that set off her eyes. Her hair was swept up off her face, and she wore a headset attached to one ear.
“Liam,” she said, her eyes glancing around in confusion. “Ronan isn’t here.”
“Good.” I held up the bag. “I brought lunch. I thought you might be hungry.”
“You brought me lunch?” she asked slowly as if she wasn’t used to having something thoughtful done for her.
I would have to change that.
“I did. If you let me inside, I’ll give it to you.”
The playful glint I liked so much flickered in her eyes, and her mouth curled into a teasing grin.
“Are you still talking about lunch?”
I threw back my head in laughter. “Depends. Play your cards right…” I trailed off, leaning close and brushing my lips across her cheek. “You never know.”
She giggled, the sound light and happy. Stepping back, she waved her arm. “By all means, come in.”
I stepped past her, my size once again making it impossible not to brush against her, especially since I wasn’t trying to avoid the contact. I heard her swift inhale of air and felt the way her body shivered. Our eyes locked as I went by, her widened stare filled with awareness. The same way my body felt her warmth and reacted to it.