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Hadlee smirks, her green eyes sparkling with mischief. “I’m always on my best behavior.”
“Okay, be onmybest behavior, then.”
Her laugh follows me to the door. I swing the door open, revealing two grinning little girls. “Miss Jana!”
“Hello, darlings!” I coo, opening my arms to them. They rush into my embrace, and I hug them tightly. “Oh my goodness! You two look lovely today.”
“I had ballet,” Maddie says matter-of-factly, gesturing to her tight bun and leotard.
“Daddy took me to Sandy’s for dinner,” Morgan says before twirling in the pretty pink dress she wears.
I glance up at the mention of their father, and my heart skips. Alex clearly shaved recently, his beard no longer a scruffy mess, but a neatly trimmed shadow. He wears a plaid flannel shirt over his usual t-shirt and jeans. My small tree is hefted over his shoulder as he stands in the doorway, waiting for us to finish.
“Alex, hi.” My voice is breathless, and the way he’s watching me has my heart pounding against my ribs. I stand and pull the girls aside, letting him step inside before I close the door.
“Hello.” His eyes never leave mine, and suddenly, I feel way too warm in this sweater. “Where do you want this?”
“Oh, um…” I trail off and bite my bottom lip.
“You can bring the tree over here,” Hadlee calls from her position on the couch. He nods and walks toward her. “I’m Hadlee, Jana’s best friend.”
“Alex.”
“Thanks for bringing the tree over, Alex.” Hadlee stands up, crossing her arms over her chest as Alex brushes past her. “It issounlike Jana to forget something so large and…important.”
I send her a glare when she looks my way with a smirk, but she just laughs. I should’ve known she would tease me the whole damn time. The girls each grab one of my hands and pull me after their father. Alex sets the tree down, and Hadlee strolls over to his side.
“Why don’t you help Jana set this up on the piano?” she says, leaning her hip against the side of the baby grand. It was a gift from her father when she graduated from college with a music minor. We still laugh about the fact that she went into cosmetology afterwards. “I’ll take the girls, and we’ll get started on the cookie dough.”
“You’ll start on the cookie dough?” I ask with a raised brow. Hadlee hasn’t baked a thing since we were in high school, and she almost burned down the economics classroom.
“It’s not that hard to follow a recipe, J.” The teasing glint in her eyes belies the pout she wears. “I won’t burn down the kitchen. We’re just gonna mix some ingredients together.”
“Sure,” Alex says, sufficiently shutting down the brewing argument. “Do you have a pot or something you want it in?”
“Yeah, there should be one in the garage,” Hadlee says, pointing to a door on the other side of the room. Alex nods and heads for it while my friend moves to my side. Maddie and Morgan take off to explore the kitchen, their giggles filling the house. “You didnottell me he was that hot.”
“Hadlee!”
“What?” she asks, letting her eyes linger on Alex’s retreating form. “I’d let him bemydaddy any day.”
“Oh my God,” I hiss, mortified by her comment. “I said best behavior, Lee.”
The smile she sends me is devious. “Oh, I know.”
“Hadlee, I swear…” I cut myself off as Alex returns with a pot in tow.
“I can get this potted if you two want to start on the cookies with Maddie and Morg.” His voice is rough, and my heart stops for a moment.What if he heard Hadlee’s comment?“And then we can start that brainstorming you mentioned.”
“Sounds good, captain,” Hadlee says, saluting. I grab her arm, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment.
“Hadlee!”
???
Maddie helps me put the cookies in the oven while Hadlee and Morgan debate over which movie to watch. It’s been about forty-five minutes since we started, and it only took two tries to get the cookie dough rolled out and cut into the shapes the girls wanted.
“Thanks, Maddie,” I say as she closes the oven. I set my little kitchen timer and show it to her. “Ten minutes, and then we can get them out. Why don’t you go watch a movie with Morgan and Hadlee while your dad and I talk?”
