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“Yeah. Unless I’m called to come bail you out of prison.”
“Funny.” She paused a few beats, as if there was something else she wanted to say before ending the call.
“What?” Chace prompted, knowing she needed a little push to spit it out.
More silence, then finally, “I know this can’t be easy for either of you.”
There was no reason for Chace to ask her to define “this.” He knew what, or rather who, Lyss was referring to. “We’ll manage.”
“You’re sure?”
Chace met his reflection in the mirror. “I’m sure,” he confirmed for his sister and himself.
“Well, I owe you big for this one.”
“Just nurse your husband back to health and bring him home.”
“That’s the plan.” She exhaled slowly. “What time do you want me to call tonight?”
“We’ll probably be home by eight. I know that’s the middle of the night for you, though.”
“It’s fine. Besides, I probably won’t sleep much anyway.”
“You need your rest, Lyss.”
“I know, Mom.”
“Smart ass.”
“Always,” she countered. “Go have fun with Holly and the girls so I can hear all about it tonight when I call.”
“Will do. Love ya, sis.”
“Love you more,” she replied. “And Chace?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
* * *
“We’re ready!”Emme and Wren chorused as they darted into the kitchen, dressed in colorful thigh-length sweaters, fleece leggings, Uggs, and knit beanies. They carried hooded jackets with gloves stuffed in their pockets. “Where’s Uncle Chace?”
“Right here,” came the deep-voiced response, followed by the thud of boots as he descended the stairs, his clean, fresh-from-the-shower scent preceding his entrance. “Is everybody ready to have some fun?” Chace asked, tossing his leather jacket on one of the stools in front of the island.
“We are!” the twins chorused, and Holly wondered, not for the first time either, if they somehow shared a brain.
Chace finished fastening his watch and pulled the sleeve of the shirt to his wrist. “Then why don’t you have your coats on?” he countered, one dark brow arched and a teasing glimmer in his brown eyes.
“We were waiting for you.”
He held his arms out to the side, palms facing up. “Well, here I am.”
Yes, he certainly was, Holly thought as her traitorous eyes took it upon themselves to roam the length of him, taking particular note of how the knit of his green thermal Henley stretched across his mile-wide shoulders and clung to the lean yet clearly defined cut of his arms and torso before disappearing into the waistband of well-worn Levi’s that deliciously showcased his perfectly rounded ass and muscled thighs.
Somehow, Holly managed to stifle the sigh that accompanied her visual journey. Just looking at him still made her ache in places only he ever could.
Gratefully, Emme’s response to Chace kept Holly from sliding further into her memory bank. “But you don’t have your coat on,” the elder twin pointed out while hastily zipping into her neon pink jacket. Her sister immediately followed suit.
