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Ainsley pulls on Tara’s dress and points to Luke. “Look, Luke has a butt chin like me.”
Tara’s eyes squint as she appraises him, bemused. “I told you only good-looking people have chin clefts. Now, do you believe me?”
“Yep!” Ainsley smiles a huge, small-toothed smile. “Luke said his mom had one, and she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Just like me.”
“He isn’t wrong.” Tara squeezes Ainsley’s cheek, then looks at Luke. “You’re very charming.”
“Very,” I deadpan, then give them both a closed-mouth smile.
“Jillian doesn’t like charming men. She’s always warning me that they’re dangerous. She even said you were a different kind of trouble.”
“Time to call it a night!” I declare with my finger held high and my hand grabbing my daughter’s.
Tara grins. “Well, you three have a great evening. I have meetings in the morning. Being an accountant isn’t as glamorous as they made it seem in college. Well, actually, they didn’t make it seem glamorous at all, but I had higher hopes than six-day workweeks and a never-ending pile of paperwork.” She kisses me and Ainsley good-bye and waves to Luke as she gets in her sports car convertible to drive away. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
As she careens down the road with the dual exhaust revving, I turn to Luke and Ainsley.
“I hope I didn’t crash your evening. Were you two having a great time?” I ask.
Luke slides his hands back into the pockets of his leather coat. “Yes. We were about to get some ice cream and walk home. Would you like to join us?”
I smash my lips and speak nonchalantly. “If that’s okay with you.”
He leans down and speaks in that smooth baritone, and his eyes darken with emotion. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want your company.”
The hairs on my neck rise at the way his voice curls though my veins and settles into every nerve ending in my body.
An unwelcome blush creeps into my cheeks. Wine will do that to a lady. “Ice cream it is.”
I take Ainsley’s hand and walk down Main Street. She grips Luke’s hand in her other one and swings her arms as we walk. Anyone looking at us would think we were the perfect family—mom, dad, and child—walking into the local ice cream shop.
Luke holds the door for us, and when we’re inside, he lifts Ainsley, and the two peruse the dairy-free ice cream. It’s a limited selection, but it seems to impress Luke.
“Peanut butter and cookie ice cream? I think I’ve died and gone to ice cream heaven.” He licks his lips and places his order, which Ainsley copies because, of course, they have the same favorite flavor of ice cream. “They make soda floats. Vanilla in Coca-Cola sounds like a winner.”
I ignore him and order a small raspberry sorbet in a cup.
Luke pays for our treat, and the three of us continue our stroll home. Ainsley skips in front with her cone in hand while Luke and I trail behind her. I run my hand over my arm and fight the evening chill that’s crept in. Luke pauses and starts to remove his jacket.
“Here,” he offers, to which I hold my hand up and deny. “Jillian, you’re freezing.”
“I’m fine.”
Ignoring my comment, he places the leather over my shoulders. As he does so, I inhale the scent of leather and musk and all things Luke.
“Did you just smell my jacket?”
Trying my best not to drop my cup, I shrug my shoulders inside his too-large jacket and then trip lightly on the curb. He grabs my elbow.
“Think I had too much wine with dinner,” I offer in explanation.
“You don’t say. You’re having a hard time hiding your expressions tonight.”
“How so?”
“I think someone is jealous. And by someone, I mean you.”
“What in the world would I have to be jealous about?”
