I might have.
She couldn't fight the smile in his eyes.
Yes, I thought of you. Not
always kindly.
Thinking's enough.
He lifted her hand, kissed her palm.
Nearly.
To her surprise,
he plucked her from the chair, sat himself down and nestled her in his lap.
But this
is a whole lot better.
It seemed foolish to disagree, so she rested her head on his shoulder.
Everyone's getting prepped for the big Fourth of July celebration, she told him
idly.
Coco and Dutch are arguing about recipes for barbecue sauce and the kids are bitterly disappointed we won't let them have small, colorful bombs to set off.
They'll end up making two kinds of sauce and asking everyone to take sides.
It
was nice sitting like this, he thought, alone and quiet at the end of the day.
And the
kids won't be disappointed after they see the fireworks display Trent organized.
Kevin had talked of nothing else all evening, she remembered.
I've heard it's going
to be quite a show.
Count on it. This bunch won't do anything halfway. Like fireworks, do you, sugar?
Almost as much as the kids.
She laughed and snuggled against him.
I can't
believe it's July already. All I have to do is get about two dozen things out of the way so I can compete in the great barbecue showdown, keep the kids from setting themselves on fire and enjoy the show.
Business first,
he murmured.
Working on Fergus's book?
Mmm-hmm... I had no i.e. how much of a fortune he'd amassed, or how little he considered people. Look here.
She tapped her finger to the page.
Whenever he
made a note about Bianca, it's as if she were a servant or, worse, a possession. He checked over the household accounts every day, to the penny. There's a notation about how he docked the cook thirty-three cents for a kitchen discrepancy.
A lot of people think more of money than souk.
He flipped idly through the book.
I can be sure you're not sitting on my lap because of my bank balance since you know it down to the last nickel.
You're in the black.
Barely.
Cash flow is usually thin the first few years in any business and when you add in the outlay in equipment you've purchased, the down payment for the cottage, insurance premiums and licensing fees
God, I love it when you talk profit and loss.
Letting the book close, he nipped
playfully at her ear.
Talk to me about checks and balances, or quarterly returns.
Quarterly returns make me crazy.
Then you'll be happy to know you and Holt underestimated your federal payments.
Mmm...
He stopped, narrowed his eyes.