Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,7

Chaos reigned supreme around here, and being armed with bribes made me a favorite of my nieces and nephews, as well as a miracle worker in the eyes of their parents. I liked to think of it as a win-win.

“Carter.” Mom’s voice made my gaze snap back to hers. She gave the candy a pointed look until I retreated and put it back in the cabinet. Then she smiled and dusted off her hands on her apron. “Would you go get Dad for me, please, honey?”

“Sure,” I said. “He’s still out back with Justin?” Our middle brother had been engaged in lawn activities with my dad and most of the kids all morning.

Mom nodded. “I think so. Unless they’ve decided to skip town with all the little munchkins, they should be there.”

“Why would they skip town with all them?” Jeremy asked. “Did I miss the conversation where Justin said he wanted to open a circus?”

“He’d have enough acts with all of them,” I said as I backed away from Tucker and toward the door.

Jeremy and Parker roared with laughter, nodding their agreement. Tucker, who seemed to think that because he was the oldest he also had to pretend to be the most serious, rolled his eyes. “Please. No one would pay money to see the Demming Troupe in action. They’d just have to show up at church on Sunday morning.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, guess who still has a sense of humor?” I pointed at Tucker after winding up my arm for a second and then ducked out to get our dad while the other two took over the banter.

Chuckling as I headed outside, I remembered why I liked coming home for the holidays so much. I was a family man at heart. Having to put in for vacation time and face the prospect of coming out was always daunting and seemed like way more effort than it was worth, but when I finally got here, it ended up being one of the highlights of my year.

I joined Dad and Justin outside, not surprised to see them sitting in lawn chairs with a beer in hand while watching the kids play tag. “You got another one of those?”

They looked up when they saw me, and Dad reached into the cooler next to him and tossed a can over. “We’ve always got spares. I’m assuming you’ve got to rally the troops for lunch?”

I nodded. “I got sent by the Chief Commanding Officer herself. We better drink fast and get inside before she sends reinforcements.”

Dad chuckled. “It’s always good to see you boys haven’t forgotten who’s boss just because you’re all out of the house now.”

“Never.” Justin pointed toward the kitchen, taking and swallowing a sip of his beer. “Mom raised us better than that.”

“Just Mom, huh?” Dad punched him playfully on the shoulder. “Thanks a lot. You’re lucky I know how much you love me.”

I laughed and took a seat in the open chair next to them. We chatted for a while about Justin’s job as an architect and some of the projects he was working on before we moved onto how stupid my job could be at times. Miranda Mackey a week ago being the case in point.

A few hours later after lunch and a lively boardgame, Mom realized we were out of bread. I grabbed my jacket and got up. “I’ll get it. It’s easier for me to sneak out than it is for anyone else.”

When I got to the local Kroger’s a couple of blocks away, I spotted a familiar head of black hair in the frozen-food section. Billy used to be my best friend at school, and I grinned as I turned to go say hi.

Before I reached him, another familiar face popped out from behind a freezer. My heart skipped about twenty beats when I saw her. Rylee Naples, Billy’s sister and my childhood crush.

She was three years younger than us, and though I’d caught her staring at me time and time again back in the day, nothing had ever happened between us. Nothing real anyway. I’d had plenty of dreams about her—plenty of very inappropriate dreams that Billy would’ve kicked my ass for—but neither of us had ever made a move.

Rylee laughed and shoved Billy’s shoulder before shaking her head and walking away. The sound of her laughter drifted over to me, and my heart skipped some more beats. She’d always had a great smile, but whenever I heard her laughing, I swore I would go to