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“Writing is my favorite thing, so it was no problem. And I think I spelled your name right. I’m going to be in the spelling bee next week.”
My chest tightened. A fist of love and worry and the slew of reservations that were battering my mind. There was nothing about this that should feel monumental. Nothing about it that should be anything of significance other than being friendly.
Neighborly, the way Livvie said we should be.
But there was something seeded at the center of it that made me feel like I was at a precipice. A place I’d never ventured to before. A place I wasn’t supposed to be.
Or maybe it was Savannah who was the culprit.
The trespasser.
Infiltrating the barriers and seeping through the cracks.
“Wow, this is awesome. I bet you’re super smart, aren’t you?”
“I’m super smart, too!” Oliver raised his hand as he popped up on his toes.
Savannah choked an affected sound before she somehow managed to loosen the stickers Olivia had used, and she unfolded the note.
“What do you think?” Olivia asked her.
Tenderness billowed across Savannah’s face. “I think this is the nicest invitation I’ve ever received.”
Olivia glowed.
I eased closer, and Savannah seemed to be flopping between apprehension and awe, the timid smile kissing the edge of her mouth wistful.
“All right, you kiddos, run on back into the house and give Ms. Savannah a chance to catch her breath. You blitzed her before she even had a chance to finish her shower.”
“That’s because I’m really, really good at football, right, Daddy?” Oliver asked as he hopped my way.
My chuckle was low.
Yeah, I was pretty sure Savannah had no idea what hit her.
“That’s right, buddy. Now run along.”
“Here, you can mark your answer on that and give it to my dad.” Olivia handed her a pink marker she’d had tucked in her pocket.
“Thank you.”
“You can thank me later after you eat dinner. It’s going to be delicious.” Forever the caretaker, Olivia took her brothers by the hands. “Come on so Ms. Savannah can finish getting ready,” she said like she was the one who’d come up with the idea.
Amusement played soft in the breeze as the three of them skipped across the lawn, my chest filling with that pride and love that nearly ripped me apart every time I looked at them.
I didn’t turn back until the kids had gone inside.
“I’m sorry about that,” I said as I swiveled around. I fought the squeezing in my chest when I looked at her.
Afternoon light slanted over the striking angles of her face. Cheeks and nose razor-sharp, and her skin smooth as glass. But it was those eyes that could cut me.
Flay me right down to the middle.
“You don’t have to apologize, Ezra. I already told you I didn’t want to be the one to get in your way.”
Stuffing my hands into my jeans’ pockets, I tried not to itch. “I think you should be worried it might be the other way around. Now that they’ve met you, I doubt much they’re going to leave you alone. Take that as your official warning.”
Unease flashed through her expression, gone in a beat, her words flooding low. “I don’t mind. They seem to come with this place.”
“That they do.”
“They’re…sweet.”
Something had shifted once the kids had gone inside. Tension strained between us like the grappling of fingers searching for a place to land. Need stretching like a band that had us tied.
Through it, I huffed my affection. “They’re handfuls.”
“Like their dad.” A soft tease infiltrated the words, and she was looking at me like she was trying to sum up every inch.
My head cocked to the side, and I couldn’t hold back the direction my mind went. “Is that what you think I am? A handful?”
I was pushing her. Allowing my tongue to get free. But I couldn’t seem to help it when it came to Savannah Ward.
Nearly lost control when her attention dropped to the bulge in my jeans. “I’m imagining you’re more than a handful, Ezra Patterson.”
“Watch yourself, Little Trespasser, or you’re going to find out.” My voice turned gruff. Greed saturating my veins. Woman sending me from zero to a thousand degrees.
The air caught in her throat, and I moved without thought.
I dragged my index finger upward along the path of a rivulet that had streaked down her neck.
I could almost see the sparks elicited at my touch.
My mouth went to the shell of her ear. “What is it about you that has me losing my mind? What is it about you that has me wanting to cross every line?”
Jagged breaths jutted her chest, and those eyes flashed up to tangle with mine. “I don’t think crossing any of those lines would be safe for either of us, Ezra.”
“No. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting it.” My fingertips moved to her jaw, fluttering gently along the defined angle just as the pad of my thumb barely glanced over that plump bottom lip.
