“In a delightful way, right?” I teased.
“I’m not so sure.”
I took her hand and held it over her head. “Spin for me?”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Humor me, Mazz.”
With a huff, she allowed me to turn her in a slow circle, letting me see my name and number on the back of her shirt. My heart thumped yet again, and I had to swallow the saliva pooling in my mouth so I didn’t drool like a knuckle-dragging caveman. She was the first woman I’d asked to wear my number, and she wore itwell.
When she was facing me again, she raised her eyebrows. “Well?”
“I like this shirt on you.” I canted toward her, chucking her under her chin with my knuckle. “A lot. You look really great.”
Before she could reply, Nate appeared with a grumpy, squirming Katty. “I think she’s ready to go home.”
“Benny,” she rasped sleepily. “I saw you.”
I held my arms out, and she lunged, falling into them. Tucking my nose in her hair, I inhaled all her sweetness, and the last of my organs unknotted.
“Are you ready to go to my house, sweetheart? We get to have a sleepover.”
“Mommy’s coming too, right?”
“Of course she is.” I kissed her head. “Say bye to Uncle Nate and Uncle Adrian.”
She lifted her head and waved. “Bye, my uncles.”
They both bid her farewell and gave Mazzy hugs.
Adrian patted me on the shoulder. “Cute kid, Benny.”
“I know.”
Nate bumped my arm, dropping his voice low enough for only me to hear. “Try to cool it, okay? Your crazy is showing.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He chuffed. “All right. If that’s how you want to play it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
By the time we got home, Katty was ready for sleep. It was all Mazzy could do to get her changed, brush her teeth, and tuck her into bed. Katty’s eyes weren’t even open long enough to take in the changes I’d made to her bedroom.
Mazzy noticed, though.
She gently pulled the door closed and whispered, “Unicorns?”
Grinning, I lifted a shoulder. “I asked her favorite colors and animals.”
“Purple, rainbow, and unicorns,” Mazzy recited.
“Exactly. So, she got a purple, rainbow, unicorn room.”
She huffed, following me down the stairs. “She’ll never want to go back to her boring bedroom.”
“I have a feeling you being there is the biggest draw.” I tapped my chest. “Me? I’ve got to give her incentive to want to hang out here. I’m pulling out all the stops.”
“Buying her love?”
