Page 15
“Well, next time, spend a little more time with your nose stuck in a book instead of out in the front yard, tossing the ball.”
“Yes, sir.”
Reese was next to Sam, playing with the salt and pepper, and she had no idea that my attention was now on her. I wasn’t surprised. She had an uncanny ability to tune us out whenever we were talking about things she wasn’t interested in. “Reese?”
“Huh?”
“Quit messing with the salt.”
“I’m not messing.” She looked up at me with furrowed brows. “I’m making a snowman.”
“Looks like a mess to me.”
Ignoring me, she went back to toying with the salt. Thankfully, she was keeping her piles to a minimum, so it wouldn’t take long to clean up. The waitress stepped up to the table, and with her eyes trained on Reese and her mess, she asked, “You guys ready to order?”
Without skipping a beat, Sam spouted out his usual order. “Medium pepperoni with a side of garlic butter.”
“Got it.”
“And wings with a Sprite.”
“Damn, kid. Where ya gonna put all that?”
“Lunch sucked today.”
“Clearly.”
The waitress giggled as she turned to Reese. “What about you, sweetheart?”
“I want a cheese pizza.”
“Anything else?”
“Coke.”
“And I’ll have a medium supreme with a Miller Lite, and I’m gonna need the Miller Lite sooner than later.”
She gave a quick nod before heading back to the kitchen. Seconds later, she returned with my beer and the kids’ drinks. She placed them on the table and smiled. “Here ya go.”
“Appreciate it.”
I was just about to take my first drink when the front door opened. I glanced up, and I felt the air rush from my lungs when Emery walked in. That had become a familiar sensation whenever she came around. It hadn’t always been that way.
When she was younger, she was a cute kid. She had long, red hair, freckles across the bridge of her nose, and pretty, green eyes. But tonight, she wasn’t just cute.
Tonight, she was stunning.
She wasn’t in her usual jeans and T-shirt, and her hair wasn’t pulled back in a braid like it always was. Instead, her red hair was down, curls draping over her shoulders, and she was wearing these black slacks that hugged her curves in a way that made a knot form in my throat. Her sweater dipped low, revealing a hint of cleavage that I had no business noticing, but I did.
I noticed every fucking inch of her.
Fuck me. She looked incredible.
Her green eyes landed on mine, and they lingered just long enough to make my chest tighten. Christ. I needed to get it together. I’d watched this girl grow up. She was family.
But I was no longer looking at Knox’s niece. I was looking at a beautiful woman, and judging how my pulse quickened when she smiled, I was about to have a hell of a problem.
I lifted my chin slightly, motioning her over, and her smile widened as she started over to us. As soon as she reached the table, she looked over at the kids and said, “Hey, guys. How’s it going?”
