“What’d you eat for dinner?” I know she made me brisket, but what did she eat?
She shrugs and doesn’t answer.
“Tori.” I wait until she looks at me. “What did you eat?” I study her again, realizing she looks thinner than she did last week. If she’s on some dumb diet when she’s already a beautiful woman, we’re gonna have words.
“PB and J.”
That’s not the answer I want to hear. “Why didn’t you have a real dinner? Some brisket? You made enough to feed an army.” Roasted corn and summer squash. Fresh-baked rolls. Homemade cookies. It was ridiculous. Ridiculously delicious. But the leftovers barely fit in my fridge.
She shakes her head—at me, at herself, I’m not sure. “I’m going to my sister’s this weekend.”
“Okay.”
Her cheeks redden and her voice drops down to a whisper. “I wanted to make sure you and the kids and Logan had enough to eat while I was gone.”
Well, damn.
I don’t think. I just react, pulling her into a side hug. “That’s about the nicest thing anyone’s done for me in a long time, darlin’. Thank you.”
Her hand looks small on my chest, her body tiny nestled against mine. She’s still for a second and then she hugs me back, and I can feel her smile against me. “You’re welcome.” God, she’s cute. And fuck, she smells good, like summer and sunshine and coconuts.
I lean away and give her a stern look. “No more skipping meals or eating sandwiches on my account. If you want something else to eat, then go for it, but your wellbeing is just as important as my family’s, okay? Don’t skimp at dinner so we can eat the next day. That’s unacceptable. And Logan can get his own damn meals over the weekend. He doesn’t even live here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chuckling, I let her go, immediately wishing I could hold her again.
“Please don’t exhaust yourself on our account. If you’re too tired to make dinner, we’ll order pizza or the kids can deal with my mac and cheese.”
When she agrees, I nudge her with my elbow, and she nudges me back, and I try not to think about how much I like having her here next to me. The fact that the woman worried enough about me and my kids to cook up a small feast proves how wrong I was about her when we first met. God, I was such a cock. This girl is amazing. Thoughtful. Sweet with my kids.
Sexy as hell.
As we watch the game, I mull over the reason she says she didn’t eat tonight. It doesn’t explain the rest of the week or why she darts off to her room in the evenings, but I think I’ve pushed her enough for now.
When I get up for a beer a little later, I make a couple of brisket sandwiches and place one on the coffee table in front of her.
I park myself on the couch and nudge her again. “This babe I know makes me the best food. You really should try her brisket.”
Tori laughs and shakes her head. To my delight, she eats the sandwich.
Ethan
Not even forty-eight hours later, I find myself looking out the window, glancing at the front door, listening for signs of a car or truck along the driveway.
Logan kicks me under the table while we eat dinner with the kids. “Don’t look so eager.”
My brother, his best friend Joey, my kids, and I are having dinner in the kitchen.
“What are you talking about?” I shove a bite of Tori’s shredded beef in my mouth and barely contain a groan because it’s so good.
He leans closer and lowers his voice. “The whole trick is to not let women know you want them.”
I wait until Joey washes the kids’ hands to respond. “You do realize I was having sex when you were still in Little League, right? Besides, I’m not making a play for Tori.”
There’s no way I’ll forget the way she threw down the gauntlet at her sister’s house. No sex. Ever. That hasn’t helped the dreams I started having two nights ago after the ice cream incident. I woke up with my hand in my boxer briefs like a damn fifteen-year-old.
“No?” His eyebrow curves up. “Not gonna bang the hot nanny?”
Smacking him in the chest, I give him a look. “No. And neither are you. In case you were wondering.”
He grins like an idiot.
The front doorbell rings, and my heart leaps in my chest. Joey offers to answer it.
Groaning, I drop my face in my hands. Am I seriously nervous over this woman? A woman who has sworn nothing is gonna happen between us? Fucking figures. Not that I need this kind of complication with the court date for my divorce two weeks away. That’s the best reminder that I suck at relationships.
Fuck. I did not just use the R-word right now.
I’m not in a good place to have one yet, not with the truckload of baggage weighing me down at the moment.
This gives me pause because I’ve always been a one-woman kind of guy. Sleeping around with random chicks does nothing for me. If given a choice, I’d always pick something special with one girl over meaningless sex with many.
But is this really something I should be exploring with my kids’ nanny?
Damn. I know how to get myself in messed-up situations.
Female voices come down the hall, and the second I see Tori, I smile. She looks more relaxed, and her face brightens when the kids go barreling into her for a hug.
I open my mouth to say hi, but my brother beats me to it.
“Hey, gorgeous. How’s your sister?”
I bristle at his term of endearment, and he smirks at me. Asshole. But she is gorgeous, even in cutoffs and an old t-shirt. It’s the affection in her eyes for my kids, though, that really hits me. I love how she gives them all her attention.
Tori’s laughing at Cody’s sloppy kisses. “Good. I swear Kat’s giving birth to a giant. Her baby is enormous, but don’t tell her that.”
Logan shivers like he’s about to have a seizure. “Pregnant women scare me. Too many hormones.”
Joey rolls her eyes.
I point to my brother’s best friend. “Tori, this is Josephine. She went to school with Logan and somehow manages to put up with this lazy bag of bones. She helped me out today with the kids so I could get some work done.”
Tori gives her a sweet smile. “I love your hair. It’s beautiful.”
Joey touches her blue locks. “Thanks. Someone told me I look like a deranged Smurf.” She punches my brother, and he puts her in a headlock with one arm while he scrolls through his phone on the other. She’s still hanging halfway upside down when she points to Tori. “But your hair is, wow. It’s so pretty.”
“Thank you. It needs a trim.”
“I could do it.”
Motioning toward Joey, I explain that she does hair.
“Yeah?” Tori perks up. “How much do you charge? Just to trim the dead ends?”
Joey wiggles her way out of my brother’s choke hold and strokes Tori’s hair gently, taking a moment to study the ends. “I’d do it for free. You know, the friends and family discount.”
“No way. My hair is a pain in the ass. Your arm will fall off by the time you’re done. I have to pay you something.”
“Um.” Joey tilts her head. “How about we trade? You show me how to make this recipe”—she points to her half-eaten plate of dinner—“and I’ll cut your hair.”