Page 64 of Her Summer Hope

He stopped whatever he was going to say and frowned. “You shouldn’t be frying anything with her on your chest.” He set the beer down. “Let me take her.” He held out his hands and her breath caught.

Evans wanted to hold her baby? She gave him a dubious look.

He scoffed. “I was a Green Beret. I’m pretty sure I can keep a baby alive and well for half an hour or so.”

She smiled. When he put it that way…

“Okay. Here.” She lifted Em from the carrier and handed her over to Wyatt, who immediately rested her against his chest and shoulder and began patting her back.

Emmie just laid her head down and commenced chewing her fingers. She looked pretty content.

“Bring her back in twenty. I’ll need to feed her,” she said, taking the carrier off and hanging it near the aprons.

“I can give her a bottle,” he offered. “If you’re still busy.”

She felt a warm flush in her cheeks. “She doesn’t drink bottles,” she said pointedly.

He frowned. “Then what does she—oh.” His eyes dropped to her chest automatically. Instead of leering, he became uncharacteristically embarrassed. “Sorry,” he said, turning his head so fast in the other direction.

She snorted and shook her head.

“I’ll go sit on the deck with her.” He stopped before stepping through the door again. “Sorry, I came in here to tell you there will be a few extra people over in case you need to make extra food.”

“That’s no problem,” she assured him. “Friends?”

He wiggled his eyebrows and leered. “I hope so” He crooked his head down to Emma. “Come on, Chonky Baby Ems…let’s go talk to the ladies.”

Her heart dropped.

∞∞∞

Wyatt’s—she couldn’t think of him as just Evans any more, not since he stopped hitting on her—friends turned out to be supermodels…or the closest thing Endurance, North Carolina had anyway.

The girls were in their early- to mid-twenties. They were tall, thin, and very, very fashionably dressed—if you counted the scraps they were wearing as clothes.

There were three girls, two blonds and a brunette, and they had shorts so short that Madison was pretty sure they were illegal in some places. Their tops were midriff-baring, and she felt a pang of envy for a moment.

She would never be able to wear something like that. Even when she managed to lose the extra weight, her stomach was never going to be the same after having the kids, and the way things were going, her boobs would never be perky enough to stay in a top like that without some seriously wide straps.

She watched from the window as the women started fawning over Wyatt and Emmie. She caught his gesture and they all turned toward her, seeing her peering at them from the window over the sink like a Peeping Tom.

She quickly looked down and started pretending to do something with her hands.

A moment later, she looked back up and felt a surge of possessiveness as the brunette took Kyle’s hand and held it a little too long.

He was smiling and saying something to make the girl laugh and Madison knew that she had no right to feel the jealousy and pain that was now filling her chest. Her eyes started to burn as the memories flooded her.

It was irrational. She was irrational.

Crackling from behind her drew her attention and she went to check the deep fryer. She pulled the first batch of fries from the oil and saw that they needed a bit longer. She put them back and winced as some of the water from her hands dripped into the vat and the grease jumped and sputtered, hitting her forearm.

“Damn it!” she hissed.

She snatched her arm back and covered the spot with her hand, thankful for the pain that drew her out of her misery somewhat.

She sniffed and peeked at the burn. It wasn’t too bad. It was small and would probably scar, but it could have been much worse.

She was walking toward the sink when Kyle came in abruptly with a smile on his face. He immediately saw the moisture in her eyes and the way she was holding her arm. He probably drew the wrong conclusion about her tears, which was just fine with her.

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