“Hey!”
“Yes?” I turned around.
“Did you hear back about the job in Rhode Island?”
I smiled, pleased that he remembered. “Yes. We’re going to talk by phone next week. I’m really excited.”
He nodded. “Good.”
That evening, I headed over to Cloverleigh Farms to help Millie with a large wedding reception. Usually, our Aunt April was on hand to help with big events, but she and her family had gone down to Chicago to see one of Chip’s games.
It was a long night, and by the time the wedding party went back to the bar at the inn to keep the celebration going, it was after eleven. Millie and I left the staff to break down the room and retreated to her office, where I dropped onto her couch and kicked off my shoes.
“Shot of whiskey?” she asked, taking a bottle from a shelf behind her desk.
“Yes, please.” I stretched my legs and feet. My red toe polish reminded me of giving the girls pedicures this morning. It had been so much fun, and Hallie had been excited enough about her blue toes that she’d forgone her water socks and gone barefoot at the pool—at least for the ten steps between where she’d left her flip-flops on the cement and the shallow end.
But Dex had called it progress and thanked me with a secret smile that made my heart threaten to burst.
Millie poured a little whiskey into two old fashioned glasses and brought them over to the couch. “Sorry I don’t have ice.”
“It’s fine.” I took the glass, scooting over so she could sit next to me.
“Cheers.” She tapped her whiskey against mine. “Thanks for the help tonight.”
“My pleasure.” I took a sip, enjoying the way the fiery liquid warmed my throat.
“So what’s new with your dad crush?”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s not my dad crush. He’s just my neighbor.”
“So you haven’t fooled around with him again?”
I took another sip. “I didn’t say that.”
My sister laughed, kicking off her shoes and tucking her legs beneath her. “Tell me everything.”
“There’s not much to tell. We hung out on Thursday night and . . . stuff happened. But we hung out all day today, and nothing happened.”
“What did you do today?”
I told her about playing salon with the girls. “I painted their toes and they did my hair, which was—interesting.”
Millie laughed. “Remember when we played salon and Felicity cut her bangs so they were like an inch long?”
“Yes!” I howled at the memory. “Dad was so mad at us. There were no scissors involved today, but there were a lot of accessories. They brought over a bag of hair bows. I looked like I’d been gift-wrapped by a toddler.”
“Where was their dad during all this?”
“He was there, drinking coffee and laughing at me. Then I suggested he let them do his hair, and when they begged and pleaded, he couldn’t say no.” I giggled at the memory. “They stuck a headband with pink cat ears on his head and he caught me taking a picture with my phone.”
“Let me see!”
I dug through my purse and found my phone, then brought up the picture of a scowling Dex to show her.
She burst out laughing. “That is one furious feline. But damn, he’s hot.”
“He was so mad when I wouldn’t delete it.” I dropped my phone back in my purse. “He threw me in the pool later, even though I told him I didn’t want to get my hair wet.”
Her eyebrows arched. “Sounds like a fun day.”
“It was.”
She sipped again. “I know you said you guys are not Dad and Frannie, but something about all this seems very familiar.”
I sighed in exasperation. “I swear it’s not like that with us. Dad and Frannie were in love. Dex and I are not. In fact, that’s one of our inside jokes. We both agreed that this thing between us should stay casual, so every time we say goodnight, one of us is like, ‘I had fun tonight, but I don’t love you.’”
My sister pressed her lips together.
“Stop looking at me that way,” I said. “We just have a good time together. He makes me laugh and has a nice dick, okay? Let me just enjoy it.”
“Okay, okay.” Sighing, she unfolded her legs and stretched them out. “Will you see him tonight?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because his kids are there.” I tossed back my last swallow of whiskey. “We don’t want them to suspect anything. And I don’t think it’s a good idea to mess around with him too often, you know? If you’re going to keep something casual, it should probably be something that only happens now and then.”