the cold, covered in snow, and looking like the hottest countryman I’ve ever seen. I stare. Like deer in the headlights. Ha. I know that look now too. Rest in peace, Buck.
Wearing a beanie cap, his hair peeks out the side and back. He yanks it off, snow falling from his shoulders as he stomps his feet at the door. “Girls, leave Kacy alone.” Peeling his jacket away, he shakes it out and then hangs it on a hook near the door.
My heart leaps at the way he says my name in the Southern drawl, and I’m dying to run up to him so I can smell him.
The girls jump up, running toward him. “Can we go play in it?” Camdyn asks.
“After you eat something and get dressed.” He looks down at the kids at his feet, both staring up at him like he’s ten feet tall and promising them the world. You know, he’s probably one of the ones who keep their promises, unlike the men in my life. “Then I have to head up to the shop.”
The girls take off to their room, but Camdyn halts her steps, and Sev runs right into her back. They both fall to the ground. Camdyn peels herself from the ground. “Do I have school?”
A chuckle leaves Barron’s lips. “No. We can barely get out of the driveway.”
“Yes!” she yells, heading toward her room.
And then I’m left alone with him. Straightening out my shirt, I stand up and try to comb my hair with my hands. He smirks, noticing, and steps inside the house, setting his gloves on the fireplace mantel. Our eyes meet, hold, and then he breathes lightly, as if deciding on his words. The silence hanging between us is an all-encompassing quietness I’m not used to. I’m used to orders and demands, not attention from someone obviously curious as to why I’ve shown up in his life.
He swallows, a smirk forming. “Sorry about them. We don’t get visitors often.”
“That’s okay.” I unintentionally step toward him. He eyes me carefully, and if I had to guess, he’s just as intrigued by me as I with him. “They’re so cute.”
“They’re a fuckin’ handful is what they are.” He laughs under his breath and then nods to the kitchen, distancing himself from me. “There’s coffee if you’d like some.” He raises an eyebrow. “Do girls from California drink coffee?”
“I’m not from California. I was just born and raised there.” Instinctively, I step closer, unable to allow space between us. “And yes, I’d love some coffee.”
He stares at me as if he doesn’t understand what I said. He probably doesn’t. I follow him into the kitchen area and take the cup he hands me. “If you’re born and raised there, that generally means you’re from there.”
I wrap my hands around the cup. “Sure, but my soul doesn’t belong there.”
His eyes move to mine and then back to the coffee pot. “Where does it belong?”
“South.”
There’s a flicker of amusement on his face as he pours the coffee into my cup. Warmth hits my palms, steam rising and obscuring my view of his beautiful face. “It’s been my experience that everything is better in the South.”
“I’m not sure I’d go with better yet.” There’s a screech of cries in the other room and a door slamming shut, followed by little-girl screams. Barron shakes his head, blowing out a breath as he lifts the cup in his hand to his lips. “They’re eighteen months apart and never get along.”
I smile, thinking of the imaginary sister I had growing up. “Only child here. My sibling was make-believe, and I dreamed up fights between us and acted them out as if we were really having them.”
He stares at me. And by the look on his face, his thoughts are something like, “this bitch be crazy as fuck.”
Fun fact, he’s right. I am. California does that to you.
“So… you think you can get my car out of the side of your building?” I ask, trying to break the silence between us. I’m not sure if it’s that he thinks I’m crazy, or he’s worried his kids might be boxing in the other room.
His attention shifts to the cries. “Yeah, I can.” He motions with a flick of his hand to the hallway. “I better go check on them.” Without another glance my way, he moves away.
Taking a drink of the coffee, I smile for reasons I don’t understand. What the fuck am I doing here? Why am I here?
Okay,