“You’re right,” she finally said. “It…it’s actually very sweet of you to come back here and praise her. I’m sure after all the work you did today, you’d prefer to be home resting.” She paused and gave him a tentative smile. “Or at least doing something with other adults.” When she looked up at him, the strangest thing happened. He smiled and she felt like a dozen butterflies had taken flight in her belly.
It was both familiar and…new.
Not that she was overly surprised. Kyle Jones was incredibly handsome and he had the kind of smile that undoubtedly melted hundreds of panties over the years.
Hers included.
“Well, tonight I’m going over to my brother Hunter’s for dinner. He’s the one with the four-year-old so…I’ll go from talking gymnastics here to…possibly talking gymnastics there. Although, luckily, Eli’s version of gymnastics is more like rolling around on the ground.” He let out a low laugh. “It’s kind of fun getting to be the goofy uncle.”
She nodded and laughed with him. “Yeah, it used to be fun to be the goofy aunt. Now it’s just…”
Before she could finish, Kyle crouched down in front of her, bracing his hands on the arms of the chair. She didn’t realize tears were flowing until she could barely see him.
“Hey,” he said softly before muttering a quiet curse. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I…I wasn’t thinking and…”
Sniffling, she shook her head. “I appreciate the apology, but this one’s totally on me. For whatever reason, I’m especially emotional today.”
“So…maybe earlier it wasn’t about me…”
“Please,” she huffed, sitting up straighter. “You wish.”
“Come on,” he teased lightly. “Admit it. I’m not all bad.”
He was being ridiculous—and incredibly sweet—but she couldn’t let him know that. With a small shrug, she said, “I wouldn’t say that…”
“But you’re thinking it,” he egged her on. “Deep down, you know that I’m basically harmless. I may say a lot of stupid shit, but it just makes me more loveable.”
“Oh, good Lord…”
“Kind of makes you want to hug me and tell me how I’m not the worst,” he said with a wink as he stood back up.
Sydney couldn’t help but laugh. As she came to her feet, she said, “I’ll admit that you’re not terrible, but…it’s a hard pass on the hug.”
He winked even as he leaned in a little closer. “Are you sure? I’m an excellent hugger.”
She remembered and it was seriously tempting but…
“Nope. Still gonna pass.”
“Well damn,” he said with a pout. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
Actually, she could, but she wouldn’t.
“Is this the way you are with all your female clients? A consummate flirt?”
And she could have kicked herself the minute the words were out of her mouth. It made it seem like she was fishing for information—or worse—that she was jealous.
His smile faded as he shook his head. “Uh…no.”
Before she could continue with this silly banter, his phone rang. It was the perfect distraction because she took advantage of the moment to go check on Haley. She and Janie were sitting under one of the big trees with their heads together and talking a million miles a minute.
“So I was thinking we could maybe have some Chinese takeout for dinner and have a Cheer Squad marathon,” she said casually, and as she hoped, it did the trick. Both girls looked up at her and smiled.
“Can we binge all the episodes?”
“Sure! And I think we have the makings for some epic ice cream sundaes and—if Janie wants to sleep over—we’ll do waffles in the morning.”
“Waffles?” Janie asked with a big grin. “You’re the best aunt ever! Can I move in?”
“Ugh…with all the work going on here, we may need to move in with you,” Haley said, but she was laughing, so…that was a good thing. “C’mon, let’s go call your mom and set up the living room for our binge-a-thon!” Then they took off toward the house without giving Sydney a second thought.
She hung her head and shook it, even as relief washed over her as another crisis was averted.
“It’s going to get better,” Kyle said from close beside her. She turned her head and looked up at him. His gray eyes were solemn and sincere.
“I keep trying to tell myself that, but…”
He cleared his throat. “Um…I don’t know if you remember, but…my mom died when I was six.”
“I do.”
She saw him swallow hard before he gave her a curt nod. “My sister was barely four, I was six, Hunter was eight, and Dean was ten. It was awful,” he