Ryan's Love - C.A. Harms Page 0,5
watering from all the manly goodness before me. The charm these two men were oozing was too much, and I was forced to look away. Then I remembered the reason I went for a walk in the first place. “You two wouldn’t happen to have a few spare minutes to do me a favor, would you?”
Booker’s smile grew wider, and he stepped forward, but Jackson elbowed him in the gut and shoved him to the side.
“What can we help you with?” Jackson asked.
“I need to move two bedroom sets upstairs, and there is absolutely no way I can do it on my own.” I placed my hands in my back pockets and rocked back on my heels. “Think maybe I could borrow your muscles for a bit?”
“Two bedrooms sets?” Booker questioned. “Are you telling me there’s more than just one of you sweet additions to the area?”
I nodded. “My best friend Bailey will be here tonight.”
“Oh sweet Lord, I think this place just got a whole lot better!” Booker was laying it on thick, and I couldn’t help but laugh. He was cute, and his actions were nothing but a little harmless fun.
“Lead the way, darlin’,” Jackson said as he stepped in front of Booker and once again nailed him in the gut with his elbow. I was getting the impression that Jackson was less than amused at Booker’s forwardness.
They followed me back to the apartment, and as they moved the furniture up the stairs, I couldn’t help but snap a few photos. It would help me convince Bailey that while this small city wasn’t Chicago, it still wasn’t so bad. What better way was there to do that than show her pictures of two extremely sexy men with flexing muscles and cute butts?
Chapter Three
Ryan
“Liv, have you seen my keys?” I hollered as I filled my oversized red thermos with coffee.
“Seriously, Dad?” she groaned as she walked into the kitchen. “I should superglue them to your hand.” She spun around and walked off to look for them. I grinned as I heard the faint jingle from the other room. Olivia had found them in ten seconds flat after I had spent thirty minutes straight looking for them before finally giving up.
“We need to get one of those key thingies to hang by the front door. Then I could put them there when I get home every night,” I said, holding my hand out for them as she reentered the kitchen.
Olivia dropped them in my palm and laughed. “Yeah right, Dad, you’d just forget to hang them on the hook.” She rushed past me to the end of the counter, where she stood on her toes and pulled a coffee mug from the cabinet above. When did my teen daughter start drinking coffee? I kept watching as she filled her mug, adding enough cream and sugar for ten cups of brew. After stirring her coffee, she turned around and leaned her hip against the counter. She lifted the bright orange coffee cup that used to be her mother’s to her lips but paused when her eyes met mine.
“What?” she asked.
“When the hell did you start drinking coffee?”
“A month maybe? You’re always running around like a chicken with its head cut off, so that’s why you haven’t noticed until now,” she said before taking a sip.
“I’m not sure I like it.” No, I didn’t like the idea of my little girl growing up. She should still be drinking chocolate milk and begging me for the cereal with marshmallows inside, not drinking damn coffee.
“Oh, Dad, it’s okay. You have years before I start drinking your beer,” she said, giving me a mischievous look. I noticed the slight curl of her lip as she fought the urge to laugh. Damn girl was good at getting me wired up.
“Yeah, well, the day I catch you popping open one of my beers, we will have problems. Don’t even joke about shit like that,” I said as I pointed my finger at her to show her how serious I was. She was a smartass, always attempting to dig under my skin and fire me up.
Her baby-blue eyes gleamed as she stuck her tongue out at me and then took another sip of her too-sugary coffee.
“Your grandma will be here to get you at noon,” I said. “I’ll swing by to pick you up midmorning on Sunday.”
Olivia put her mug down on the counter and came over to give me a kiss on the cheek.
“O-M-G, Dad, I know.