She slid her arms around his neck, pressing her lips against his. “This almost-uncle thing. You have Zoe wrapped around your little finger.”
He kissed her back, his hands sliding down her hips. “Yeah, well you Butler girls have me pretty much whipped. I live to make you happy.” He slid his lips down her neck, pushing her hair away with his hands. She let out a little gasp as the sensation overtook her.
“Van?”
Tanner pulled back, a horrified expression on his face. Van turned to see Zoe standing at the doorway, the sun spilling in behind her.
Van swallowed hard. “Um… I didn’t know you were there.”
“Obviously.” Zoe wrinkled her nose. “I was just wondering if you guys were watching the movie with us. But now I’m really hoping you’re not because if you do that in front of my friends I’ll die of embarrassment.”
She could hear Tanner chuckle softly behind her. “You weren’t meant to see that.” Shooting Tanner a warning look, she smoothed her hair back over her shoulders.
“I’m not a kid. I know that you two kiss.” She wrinkled her nose. “And do other stuff.”
Van’s mouth dropped. “You are a kid,” she pointed out. “And what do you know about other stuff?”
“Emily Mayburn’s mom has a book. We’ve all seen it.” Zoe shrugged, as if it was no big deal.
“What kind of book?” Van asked, alarmed.
“Let’s hope it’s not the kind of books you read,” Tanner murmured. Van bit down a grin.
“The Girl’s Guide to Life. It’s about periods and stuff.” Zoe looked over her shoulder, as though she was afraid people were listening. “And babies.”
Tanner let out another laugh. This time Van spun around to glare at him. “Hey,” he said, lifting up his hands. “That was an embarrassed giggle.”
“You didn’t sound embarrassed,” Van told him, her eyes narrow. In fact, he looked like he was enjoying every minute.
“Um, can I go now?” Zoe asked. “How long until the movie starts?”
Tanner checked his watch. “Fifteen minutes until showtime.”
“Okay, I’m gone.” Zoe gave them one last glance. “Do you think you can stop the kissing thing. At least until my friends have left?”
Tanner gave Van a lopsided grin. “I’ll try,” he promised, looking back at Zoe. “But your sister needs a lot of kissing. She’s that kind of girl.”
Zoe rolled her eyes and ran down the stairs again, and Van let out a deep sigh.
“Why does she have to grow up?” she said, shaking her head. “Before we know it she’ll be getting her period and crying over boys.”
“She won’t cry over boys,” Tanner said, stepping up behind her and sliding his arms around her waist. “I’ll beat them up before they can hurt her.”
Van put her hands against her chest and pretended to swoon. “My hero.”
His lips curled against her neck. “I like to think so. Now let’s go put on a movie.”
It was almost ten o’clock by the time everything was closed up and they were ready to leave. Zoe had gone to her friend’s house for a sleepover. Van climbed into Tanner’s car and pulled the seatbelt across, watching as he walked across the grass after locking up the refreshment booth.
“So that went well.” He smiled at her. “Apart from the popcorn burning.”
“And the sound turning off halfway through.” Van shook her head.
“Oh, and don’t forget that kid throwing up after she ate too many hotdogs.” Tanner wrinkled his nose. “That’s something I could do without seeing ever again.”
Van grinned at him. “At least we know what’s inside a hotdog now.”
“Yeah. That’s enough to put me off them for life.” He turned the ignition key then looked at her, a soft smile playing at his lips.
“What?” she asked, loving the way he was looking at her.
“You want to come back to my place?” he asked her, his eyes dark. She swallowed hard, loving the way he was looking at her.
“You got the keys?” she asked eagerly.
“Yep.” He nodded. “I thought you’d want to be the first one over the threshold.”
“I’d be honored.”
Five minutes later, he pulled into the driveway of a huge Victorian house. Her mom’s bungalow could fit in it three times without blinking. It was one of the old-style two-stories, with a wraparound porch and a brick chimney standing proud from the slate-tiled roof. The kind of house she used to dream of when she was a kid.
Because that kind of house always had a mom who took care of you and a dad who came home every evening and played games with you until bedtime. Or at least it did in her childhood imagination.
“Fairfax thinks the owner might be willing to sell it after the six month lease is over.” Tanner inclined his head. “Ready?”
She was already halfway out of the car. He laughed at her enthusiasm, locking the car up and following her along the brick-lined path.
Even in the dark it was beautiful. There was a tree in the expansive front yard with an old rope swing tied up to it. If it wasn’t completely dark, she would have launched herself on it.
“Later,” Tanner said, as though he was reading her mind. “Let’s go inside first.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her up the steps. There was an old rocking chair on one side of the wraparound porch, and a wicker love seat and coffee table on the other. The kind of place where you could sit out in the evening with a glass of iced tea and watch the world go by.
Tanner unlocked the door and pushed it open, stale air escaping through the crack. “It’s been empty for a while,” he told her. “Fairfax didn’t even show it to me at first. He thought it wasn’t modern enough.”
Van followed him inside, her footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. It stretched for two floors, a grand staircase curving around the right wall, with enough room for a grand piano beneath it.
“You’re going to rattle around in here,” she murmured, as he flicked a lightswitch. A chandelier lit up, casting patterns across the tiled floor.
“I’m hoping I won’t be here on my own much.”
She smiled at him. “I guess your family will visit.”
“And you?” he murmured, tracing her collarbone with his outstretched finger. “Will you be here?”
“If you buy some furniture.”
“I’ll take that for now.” He brushed his lips against hers, sending a shot of electricity through her body. “Come on, let me show you around.”
The house was everything she thought it would be. Full of character, from the old sanded floorboards on the upper level, to the gas stove that dominated kitchen. But it was the living room that took her breath away. Even without furniture it was impressive, with its high ceilings, beautifully carved molding, and huge wood-and-glass doors that led out to the backyard.
“It’s an acre in all,” Tanner told her. “There’s a brook at the end that leads to the creek. The neighbors tell me there’s a herd of deer that sometimes run along it.”