The Magnolia Sisters (Magnolia Sisters #1) - Michelle Major Page 0,62
Lucas the one-fingered salute as they checked the equipment on one of the station’s trucks the following Sunday. Ever since talking to Avery last week, Gray had indeed been in a crap-tastic mood. He’d held it together for Violet, but otherwise a black cloud hovered over him, refusing to budge.
It should be easy to put Avery out of his mind. They’d spent exactly one fantastic night together, and he wasn’t some green boy who couldn’t separate emotions from sex.
Only he couldn’t seem to manage it with this particular woman.
It didn’t help that every morning his daughter skipped over to the carriage house for her daily dose of braids. She’d come home yesterday excited that Avery had bought pink ribbons to weave through her hair.
She wanted nothing to do with Gray but had somehow managed to charm his plucky daughter. Whoever came up with the phrase “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” had never met a single dad.
The crazy part was he hadn’t even realized something was missing from his life until Avery had blown into it. Now he pined after her smile and her sass. His life hadn’t felt lonely, but now the bed was too big and he realized he wanted someone to talk to, even if that talk was trading playful jabs back and forth.
He knew she’d met with a Realtor after their argument. That fact proved this was for the best. Her time in Magnolia was temporary. To remind himself of that, he’d spent a painful hour watching tutorials online about braiding when he couldn’t fall asleep last night. He needed to be ready when he was back on call, which was bound to happen sooner than later.
“It’s the hot chick in your guesthouse, right?” Lucas wiggled his eyebrows. “I could tell you had it bad when we saw you with her at Summer Fair. Even Jennie noticed, and very little besides food holds her attention these days.”
“Don’t call her a chick,” Gray practically growled.
Lucas’s wide grin told Gray that he’d used the term just to get a rise out of him. “You like her.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Gray finished checking the ladder truck’s gauges. “She’s here temporarily and if she convinces Carrie and Meredith to sell to some shady developer, it will change everything.”
“Magnolia doesn’t need change.”
“It’s coming,” Gray said, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Whether we like it or not.”
“Also, you avoided answering the question. Do you have a thing for Avery Keller?”
“Who doesn’t?” Sam Anderson, one of the newest recruits from the training academy, entered the bay from the break room. “She’s hot.”
Gray muttered a curse under his breath.
“I like how she always looks like she should be walking through the lobby of some fancy hotel.” Sam nodded. “She’s something different.”
Lucas shook his head. “Which would appeal to you since you’ve been here three months and slept your way through most of the single women in town.”
“I’m guaranteed to please,” Sam said with a laugh.
“Put that on a business card,” Lucas told him.
“Think Avery Keller would like it? I could—”
Before the other man could finish his sentence, Gray had grabbed him and shoved him up against the side of the truck. “You’ll do nothing with Avery,” he said through clenched teeth. “Not even look at her.”
Sam held up his hands. “I didn’t realize she was yours.”
The idea of that was like a right hook to the jaw, but Gray shook his head. “She’s not mine. We’re friends. You’ll treat her with respect.”
“Sure, man.” The young firefighter straightened his uniform shirt when Gray released him. “I’ve got a line on a sweet nurse from Winthrop. We’ve just scratched the surface of what I can offer the ladies around the region. Next week I’m meeting a woman I’ve been DMing over in Raleigh.” He held up his hand, ticking off potential conquests on his fingers. “I’m kind of full up at the moment, and your girl looks like she’d be high-maintenance in the end. I don’t do complicated.”
Gray gaped as Sam disappeared around the back corner of