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“Easton,” she whispers as she attempts to straighten again. “We shouldn’t—--, Bethany—-”
She doesn’t get to finish her sentence when the front door slams shut.
I let her go and she spins around and picks up her t-shirt from the floor, putting it back on a second before Bethany walks into the kitchen sporting a huge smile on her face. She looks at me curiously, then flops onto one of the island chairs. “How was the dance, baby? Did you have fun?”
Bethany nods excitedly. “It was the best time of my life. Autumn, I have to thank you again – everyone at the dance was going on and on about how good my hair and makeup were.”
Autumn grins back at Bethany before glancing at me and saying, “You’re welcome, sweetie. I had fun too.” She’s trying hard to act as if I hadn’t just had my hands on her moments ago, but there’s no mistaking the faint blush on her cheeks, which causes me to smirk at her.
Thankfully, in the typical narcissistic fashion of pre-teens everywhere, Bethany’s completely unaware of the tension in the air. “I’m going to head upstairs to shower and change my clothes. Can we go out again today, Dad?”
I nod. “Sure. I’m going to get lunch with your aunt this afternoon, but I’m free as soon as I get back.”
“Awesome. See you guys later.”
As soon as Bethany’s out of earshot, Autumn looks over at me and says, “Do you want something to eat?”
Oh, so that’s how we’re going to play this, is it?
A lightness I haven’t felt in years has taken over my body and I can’t help but see how far I can push her into admitting she wants me as much as I want her.
“I absolutely want something to eat, Autumn. Namely, you.”
She gasps and her cheeks turn bright red. I love it.
“Easton! Stop that. Listen, we need to talk—-.”
I stride over to her and take her face in both of my hands, looking into her beautiful eyes. Suddenly serious, I say, “We absolutely do need to talk, but I can’t right now. Let’s have breakfast together. Not the breakfast I’d like, but I can wait. We’ll talk later, okay?”
She stares back at me and some of the stiffness leaves her shoulders and she relaxes. “Okay,” she whispers. “Later.”
Savanna is already sitting at our usual table when I walk into the diner and she smiles when she sees me. “Where’s Bethy?” she asks.
I scoff and roll my eyes. “She’s at home with Autumn. She had her big dance last night.”
“Oh, that’s right! How did it go?”
“She had fun, which is the main thing. She didn’t mention her date, if you can even call it that at her age.”
“I can’t wait to see pictures. I’m sure Autumn made her look so cute! She’s so great at that sort of thing.”
Which gives me the perfect opening I need to bring up Autumn.“I actually need your advice on something, Sav.”
“Oh?” She leans over the table once we sit down and smiles mischievously at me. “Does it have anything to do with a certain redhead who’s living with you at the moment?”
“Is it that obvious?”
Savanna shrugs. “Not really, but she’s already shared a few things with me.”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair while looking around the diner. If anyone sitting close to us overhears anything, it will be a total of five minutes before the rest of the town knows about it. “I can’t seem to control myself around her.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Yes,” I answer immediately, then sigh. “No? I don’t know, Sav. It’s difficult for me, you know that.”
She smiles and nods. “I get it, but maybe this is exactly what you need.”
“Unlikely,” I mutter.
