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He cracked a huge grin. Oh, this was gonna be some fun.
AJ’s phone rangtwo minutes before her last appointment started. Normally she wouldn’t have answered it, but Cord was calling. And he never called her when she was working.
“Cord? What’s wrong?”
He chuckled. “Are my phone calls rare enough that you assume something bad has happened?”
“Maybe. Anyway, what’s up?”
“You’ve got the day off from bein’ a taxi service. I’ll handle the kids today. You just come on home when you’re done workin’.”
Her forehead wrinkled with confusion. “You mean all the kids except Vaughn? I still need to get him since I’m in town?”
“Nope. Gotcha covered.”
“Are you sure? Because—”
“Just because you usually do all this stuff doesn’t mean I don’t know how to do it and can’t step in once in a while.”
“But…I don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t, but you will.” A pause. “And for the record, baby doll? That’s one.”
The growly, sexy tone she hadn’t heard in a long time sent a shiver down her spine.
“Cord?”
Silence. He’d hung up.
Damn man.
Then Marguerite hobbled in, and AJ had no choice but to focus on her client.
An hour later she locked up for the weekend. She wondered if she should swing by the grocery store and grab something quick for supper. Then she remembered Ky had a football game, and the kids would expect to load up on concession-stand junk, so she was off the hook for tonight’s meal.
AJ barely registered the drive home. She parked on the concrete pad in front of the garage, next to Cord’s truck. She’d cleared the first two steps when she noticed Cord lounging in the chair next to the porch swing.
She swallowed her disappointment that he hadn’t leapt up to welcome her home with a hug and a kiss. Then she noticed he’d stretched out his long denim-clad legs and propped his bare feet on the log railing. A lowball glass rested on the table next to him. He wore a white T-shirt that hugged his broad chest,highlighting the work-honed muscles in his arms, and the slope of his belly. Good Lord the man was fine. “You look comfy.”
“I am.” He tipped his head to the chair opposite him. “Have a seat and I’ll pour ya a happy hour special.”
She tried not to show shock at his playful response. When was the last time she’d seen him this relaxed? Dropping into the chair, she sighed. “It’s gonna be a beautiful night.”
“Yes, it is.” Cord handed her a glass three quarters full of amber liquid with a large ice cube bobbing in the center.
“What’s this happy hour special?”
“Crown apple.”
Her favorite. She smiled and held her glass up for a toast. “TGIF.”
He touched his glass to hers.
After the first sip warmed her throat, she basked in the last rays of sunshine and the quiet.
Wait. It wastooquiet. “Where are the kids? Watching movies or something?”
“Nope. Avery and Vaughn are havin’ a sleepover at Keely’s. Foster and Beau are stayin’ with Colby. Ky is crashing with Hayden after the game. So we’re all alone.”
