Batter of Wits (Green Valley Chronicles #22) - Smartypants Romance Page 0,60

opposite side of the couch and I struggled to sit up and tug my shirt into place.

My aunt dropped her hands and pinned Tucker with an incredulous stare. "Tucker Haywood, what in sweet merciful heaven are you doing here?"

Her mom voice was fully activated, and it caused any desire pulsing through my body to shrivel up and die.

"Well, ma'am," he started, standing from the couch with a wince, hands cupped over his impressive display, "I came to see Grace."

I stifled a hysterical giggle as it crawled up my throat.

"I know that," she said calmly, "but if you're running around on that girlfriend, you've got no place thinking about my niece. I never pegged you as a man who'd disrespect two good women like that."

Oh. Right.

Tucker's face smoothed out into a placid mask. No hands were required to hide anything anymore, because if there was anything that could kill a good dry-humping session, it was someone mentioning his recent ex.

"Magnolia and I are no longer seeing each other, Mrs. Buchanan." His chin lifted. "Not that I need to defend my actions, but I'd hope you know me well enough to know that I'd never touch your niece if I weren't available to do so."

I pulled my legs up to my chest and hid my burgeoning smile into my knees. I loved the way he spoke, loved the way it sounded in his accent. There was an old-fashioned quality to the way he chose his words, and that made me want to rip his clothes off all over again.

Until my aunt caught sight of my expression. "Do we need to talk about safe sex, young lady?"

Smile gone. "Nope. I'm … we're good. I'm good."

Aunt Fran turned to Tucker and sighed. "Well, I'm certainly sorry I interrupted, because I won't get that picture out of my head for the rest of my life, to be sure." She rubbed her forehead. "I don't even remember why I came out here now. Lord, I'm losing my mind."

Tucker smiled at me. "I should go anyway. I've got an early day tomorrow."

I'll admit it, I pouted. And when he saw my lower lip push out, his grin spread until the skin around his eyes crinkled into handsome lines.

"Don't let me run you off," Aunt Fran said. "I can make myself scarce."

"It's fine, Mrs. Buchanan." He leaned over me and dropped a kiss on the top of my head. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded up at him.

It was too easy to imagine, based on his facial expression, that I was a living heart-eye emoji. I'd turned into a human swoon. I wanted nothing more than to hear him call me Angry Girl, or Pretty Girl, or any other variation he could come up with based on my mood.

"Night," he said, winking as he straightened.

"G'night, Tucker," Aunt Fran said as he left. Before she could turn around and face me, I covered my face with a throw pillow until I felt her sit next to me. Her hand tugged on the corner of the pillow, and she chuckled at whatever she saw on my face. "It takes a lot to surprise me, Grace Bailey."

I sighed. "I know."

"I thought you hated him?"

"I did." I shrugged. "And then I didn't."

She gave me a considering look. "Did you forget how to work a lock on the door when you stopped hating him?"

I laughed. "Sorry about that. I wasn't … expecting company."

"So he broke up with Magnolia MacIntyre … for you." It wasn't a question. Because she saw the answer clear as day, as he had me squirming restlessly underneath him on the couch when she walked in. Two minutes later, and she would've probably seen much, much more of both of us.

I nodded slowly. "Seems so."

Aunt Fran whistled. "And that made you not hate him anymore?"

"No." I sighed, playing with the edge of the pillows. "I not-hated him before he broke up with her. He wasn't aware of it though."

"What happened?"

"The curse happened."

Her face went blank with shock. "But you … you hated him. I saw it."

I slung an arm over her shoulder. "Aunt Fran, prepare to have your mind blown, because we've got ourselves a sexist curse in this family."

Chapter 17

Tucker

It seemed lately that my life worked only because of a checks and balances system. A scale, just like the one that Lady Justice held, now dictated my personal life, like it had dictated my professional one. You relieve weight from one side, and the other will sink. Add weight