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She gave him a dazzling smile, said a few words to him, and then walked over to our group.
“Hey, guys,” she said, hugging Avon. “Hi Holt, it’s good to see you here.”
“Yeah, it’s nice to be out with adults.”
I couldn’t think of anything new or remotely entertaining to say. My gaze kept drifting to her bare legs and I had to check myself, forcing my eyes to Grady instead.
“Holt, you remember my sister Shea, right?” Grady said. “She’s my sister.”
His emphasis let me know he’d seen me staring. Grady had always been overprotective of Shea.
“Of course I remember Shea. She’s been letting my son bug her at work and he’s crazy about her.”
She turned her megawatt smile on me and I felt a stirring in my chest. What was it about her that I couldn’t look away from?
It was everything. She was beautiful but also funny and sweet. I’d never seen a woman be so nurturing to my children and damn if it didn’t make her irresistible to me. Spencer hadn’t been excited about much of anything since his mom left, and Shea had brought back his enthusiasm.
“How did your birdhouses turn out?” she asked me.
“Marley painted hers purple with a rainbow roof. It turned out great. Spence tried to blend colors together, so his is gray, and mine...well, it won’t be winning any birdhouse awards.”
“It has boobs on it, though,” Coulter said.
I shook my head as Shea gave me an alarmed look. “No, it doesn’t.”
“I need another beer,” Coulter said. “Anybody want a drink?”
Everyone passed, and as soon as he was gone, Avon smiled up at Grady. “Want to dance?”
“Absolutely.”
They headed back to the dance floor, leaving Shea and me alone. Our eyes met and we both smiled and looked away. I felt like a nervous high school kid at a homecoming dance.
“Hey, thanks for baking cookies with the kids today,” I said. “They were really excited to give cookies to their grandparents.”
“I loved it. They’re really great kids, Holt. You’ve done a great job with them.”
It wasn’t the time or the place to tell her I’d been too busy with hockey to be much of a dad until a year ago. So, instead, I said the only thing that came to mind.
“We could dance. If you want to, I mean.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Shea
“Sure,” I said, my pulse pounding as I accepted Holt’s invitation to dance.
He took my hand and led me onto the dance floor, the curious gazes of bystanders following us. We’d be the talk of the town by tomorrow morning, thanks to the churning rumor mill.
He put a hand on my hip and I silently warned myself to be cool. I didn’t come to these things often because I was usually busy planning the next day’s menu and closing down the kitchen for the day. Evenings were my quiet time.
Grady and Avon had talked me into coming tonight, though, and I’d expected to just hang out with them and talk. The only men I’d danced with in a long time were Grady and Coulter. There was no possibility of sparks flying between me and my brother’s best friend.
With Holt, though? There was an entire gymnastics meet happening in my stomach. I was used to having his kids as a buffer between us, the attention mostly on them.
“You okay?” he asked me as we moved in time to the music.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
