“I’ll help,” Chloe offered.
“So will I.” Rachel put her glass of water on the table.
She waved off their offers as she hurried into the house. “No need. It won’t take me long. Enjoy the beautiful day.”
While the men busied themselves with the barbecue, Chloe and Rachel got to know each other. “Felicity mentioned your husband’s away,” Chloe said.
“He’s a journalist and often travels for work. My brother Jordan stays with me when David’s away. He doesn’t like me in the home alone with just the kids.” Rachel rolled her eyes. “Between you and me, I think he does it because he’s a lousy cook and is sick of takeout.” Chloe laughed, and Rachel continued, “Big brothers can be such a pain in the ass.”
“Tell me about it. I have two of them. One’s worse than the other.” Rachel made a sympathetic noise. “I moved to New York a couple of months ago, and my brother Ethan doesn’t think I can take care of myself.”
Rachel shook her head. “Brothers.” Then she nodded her head toward Theo grilling steaks. Even wearing a pink floral apron, he looked hot. “How does your brother feel about boyfriends? Mine treated David like he was an escaped prisoner from a maximum-security prison when we started dating.”
“Theo and I aren’t dating. We’re friends.” The words stung, but she needed to keep up the facade.
Rachel blinked. “Oh, when I saw you together and from the way he looked at you, I just assumed…”
The way he looked at me?He always looked at her like he wanted to peel her clothes off.“No, just friends.” To change the subject before Rachel questioned their relationship further, she said, “How old are your boys?”
“Timothy is five, and Alexander is seven and a half. The half is very important according to him.” Chloe laughed. “And I have a four-month-old baby girl, Abigail, who’s asleep inside.”
“You’re very lucky.” Having three beautiful children was the dream, but Chloe would be ecstatic to have at least one.
“I know. Sometimes I want to pull my hair out and scream, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. What about you, do you want kids?” Her eyes grew round. “I’m sorry; that’s a bit personal.”
“No, that’s okay. I’d love to start a family someday. Hopefully soon, if I can find the right guy.” Her gaze flicked to Theo.
Rachel pointed to her brother, who had ditched the cooking and was playing soccer with the kids. “Jordan is single, and I can vouch that he’d be an awesome father. He’s great with my boys and Abigail has him wrapped around her little finger.”
Chloe picked up on Rachel’s not-so-subtle hint. Her gaze drifted over to Jordan. She could see the appeal. He was cute in a surfer-dude kind of way with shaggy brown hair and tanned skin. The boys looked like they adored him as they rang rings around him. He had potential.
But he paled in comparison to Theo. Was that going to be her problem from now on? All men wouldn’t live up to him? Every time she was on a date, would she think of him and how he made her feel?
Alexander ran over to Rachel with the ball. “Come and play with us, Mommy.”
A small, crackled cry came from a monitor sitting on the table. “Maybe later, I have to go inside and feed your sister.” She kissed his cheek and made her way to the house. The boy’s smile faded as he spun the ball in his hands.
“I’ll play with you if you’d like?” Chloe hated seeing the disappointment on his face. Would she be a sucker for a dropped lip when it came to her kids? Probably.
Alexander’s mouth screwed up at the side.
“I’m pretty good. I doubt you can beat me,” Chloe said.
He nibbled on his bottom lip. “Okay.” And he kicked the ball over to Jordan. “We have another player,” he yelled to his uncle.
Jordan kicked the ball up and juggled it on his knees. “Great, happy to have you on the team.”
“Glad to be here.” Chloe giggled.
“Right, the teams are Chloe and me against you two boys. The rules…”—his eyes squinted, he placed his hands on his knees so he was eye level with the kids, and he put on a fierce expression—“thereareno rules.”
Chloe hid a smirk behind her hand.
“But you’re big.” Timothy scratched the side of his face.
“You think you can’t beat us?” Jordan dropped the ball at his feet.
“We can beat you.” Alexander puffed out his skinny chest, slapped his hands on his hips, and bolted toward his uncle. Jordan flipped the ball around until Alexander won it. He took off toward the makeshift goals made with two large white rocks taken from the garden.
