“Hmmm,” he murmured, and she heard the rustle as he opened the chips.
Livy finished her last bite and Jeanne Louise kept ahold of her thoughts for another moment to ensure the child’s stomach wasn’t rebelling at being so full, and that all was well, then released her to turn her attention to her own food. Her eyes widened when she saw the small mountain of potato chips on her plate next to the sandwich she’d unwrapped.
“Thank you,” she murmured and picked up a chip to pop in her mouth. The explosion of flavor on her tongue this time made her eyes close. Dear God, she’d forgotten how good these were. Or perhaps they just hadn’t tasted that good for a while. Her taste had been fading, Jeanne Louise realized. But it was definitely back. That thought made her open her eyes again and peer at Paul. He was definitely a possible mate for her then. She didn’t know whether to be glad or dismayed. This was not going to be easy, any way she looked at it. The chances were better that everything would go sideways and she would lose Paul than that it would work out.
Realizing Paul was peering at her in question, she forced herself to chew and swallow the now soggy chip in her mouth and then picked up her sandwich.
“Ah ah ah,” Paul said suddenly, and Jeanne Louise glanced to him to realize he was speaking to Livy. The girl had picked up her photo album again and was moving closer to Jeanne Louise with it. “Let Jeanne Louise eat first.”
“But—” Livy began in protest.
“Why don’t you go let Boomer out of the garage?” Paul interrupted. “I put him in there while Mrs. Stuart was here and forgot to let him out again when I got back. He’s probably crazy for a run around the yard.”
Livy was on her feet and skipping toward the house at once. Jeanne Louise watched her go with a smile and then glanced to Paul with a raised eyebrow. “Boomer?”
“Shih tzu,” he said with a faint smile. “I bought him for Livy when Jer—her mother died. She was only three. Shortly after the last picture she showed you. Livy kept screeching ‘boom boom’ when she chased him around the night I brought him home, so I named him Boomer.”
Jeanne Louise grinned at the words, and then gave a startled gasp as a small furry power ball lunged at her, startling and tumbling her backward on the gazebo floor. The fur ball followed, landing on her chest, front paws on her chin as it licked madly at her face with its little pink tongue.
“He likes you! I knew he would!” Livy squealed with delight and Jeanne Louise burst out laughing, and then quickly cut herself off and closed her mouth as the dog immediately turned his attention there.
“Boomer!” Paul said in a voice she suspected was supposed to be firm. However, the effect was somewhat ruined by his laughter.
Realizing it was up to her, she clasped the squirming little body in her hands and eased him gently down to her lap as she sat back up. Boomer wasn’t having any of that, however, but kept trying to squirm out of her hold and up to lick her face again. She was vaguely aware of Paul standing and moving off, but he was back quickly and waving a small pink ball in front of the dog’s face.
“Fetch,” Paul said and then tossed the ball.
Jeanne Louise instinctively released the animal as he launched after it.
“Sorry about that,” Paul said wryly, handing her a napkin. “He’s an affectionate little thing.”
Jeanne Louise chuckled at the words and quickly wiped her face, then glanced around for her sandwich, relieved to see that it still sat where she’d set it at her side, undisturbed by Boomer’s arrival. She picked it up, her gaze seeking out Boomer and Livy to see that the girl was throwing the ball for the dog and cooing happily as he fetched it back to her.
“Livy hasn’t been this lively for a while. She hasn’t eaten much the last week or so either,” Paul said quietly, watching his daughter play.
The young girl wasn’t exactly jumping around, she was simply standing and throwing the ball, but Jeanne Louise wasn’t surprised to hear this was active for the child. If Livy hadn’t felt like eating than she wouldn’t have had the energy to play at all. They had to get her to eat more.
“She likes you.”
Jeanne Louise glanced to Paul at that comment and noted the way he was looking at her. Half intrigued and half calculating. It reminded her of the proposition he had for her.
Shrugging, she picked up half her sandwich and raised it to her mouth, saying, “I like her too,” before taking a bite. It was the truth. She did like Livy. The child was sweet and loving and pretty as a doll, or would be once she was fattened up a bit and less worn looking.
“That’s good,” Paul said seriously, his eyes sliding back to his daughter as she threw the ball for Boomer again and giggled as the dog raced off across the yard after it. It was a large yard with a ten-foot privacy wall made of what appeared to be rose-colored brick all the way around it, which prevented her guessing where they were. She couldn’t hear any sounds from beyond the wall that might have told her anything either. For all she knew they could be out in the country or smack-dab in the city.
“Why the wall?” Jeanne Louise asked rather than ask where they were.
“I like to sunbathe in the nude.”
The answer caught her so by surprise, Jeanne Louise choked on the bite of sandwich she’d just taken and Paul burst out laughing and quickly thumped her back to help her out.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” Paul said with a grin as she regained control of herself, and added, “We aren’t far from the highway and the wall blocks the sound. Besides, Livy’s little, and I didn’t want to worry about her playing in the back yard with Boomer.”
Jeanne Louise nodded, but avoided looking at him. She knew she was bright red. Besides, if she looked at him she suspected she’d imagine him naked. If she were honest with herself, she already was, which wasn’t helping with her blushing, so she steadfastly peered at her plate and ate her sandwich, one bite at a time. It didn’t help much with eradicating the image of him naked from her mind though. Damn the man.
“How long have you worked for Argeneau Enterprises?” Jeanne Louise asked as she finished the last of the sandwich. It seemed a nice, safe, non-naked subject.
“Two years and four months now,” Paul answered, his gaze still on his daughter. “I started there a little more than a month after Livy’s mother died.”