Page 54 of A Package Deal

I jumped, grabbing lip gloss and heading for the closet for my flip-flops. Except they weren’t in my closet. They’d been replaced by shoeboxes that had the tops off to reveal heels, sandals, tennis shoes, and even slippers. I grabbed the tan sandals and slid them on my feet, realizing from the fancy upside-down T on them that they were designer. And well out of my price range. I shook my head and blew out a breath. This lavish spending was an argument for another day. Tonight I just wanted to celebrate finishing the job on time.

Racing out the door, I slicked on the lip gloss and tried to finger-comb the snarls in my hair. Georgia, Anton, and Warrick stood by the front door, my daughter between them, holding each of their hands. I slid to a stop and tried not to let that mental image burn into my brain. She looked so happy with her uncle and her Wa-wy beside her.

“I’m ready. Thanks for waiting.”

Warrick reached for me with his other hand and tugged me to his side. The look in his eyes said he appreciated this dress very much, but he also looked like he was remembering what I looked like without clothes on. Every inch of my skin heated. “We’d wait a lifetime.”

He held my hand the whole way into town, our hands on my thigh as Anton and Georgia kept up the conversation in the back. Anton had always been good with Georgia. It killed me that he didn’t have kids of his own, but whenever I brought the subject up, he shut me down, saying keeping track of all of us siblings was enough work for him.

When we got to the carnival, cars were packed in the lot, but Warrick found a space along the back row, bouncing his tires up on one side of the curb. He shot me a lazy grin. “See how this big ol’ truck comes in handy?”

I snorted. “Could have fit without going up on the curb if the truck was a little smaller.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” He glanced in the back, seeing Anton occupied with helping Georgia out of the truck. He lowered his voice. “Plus I get to come around and put my hands on you to help you down.”

I waited until he got out of the truck to fan my face. It felt like Warrick was determined to flirt with me tonight. Considering what we’d done a few nights ago, and the fact that this job was officially done, we’d have to talk about where things were between us. I didn’t like uncertainty, especially when it concerned my daughter. But tonight felt like a night to just relax and, for once, I was going to let myself.

“Let’s go have some fun, shall we?” Warrick asked after he opened my door and held out his hand.

I put my hand in his and smiled. And if I accidentally dragged my body down the front of his as I slid out of the truck, it was all in the name of having fun. Warrick’s heated gaze never left mine. Nor did his hand. We walked right into the town carnival holding hands and smiling like a real family.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Warrick

“Okay, when the buzzer goes off, start throwing the ball toward the hoop. Ready, Peaches?”

Georgia was up on my shoulders, her giggles sounding in my ear like the cicadas in summer, constant and relaxing. The basketball game started and I handed her a ball. She threw it, nearly hitting the game operator in the face when it went wild.

“Try again. Remember, the hoop is your target.” I handed her another ball after it rolled down the shoot. She threw it again and got closer. I repeated the action several more times, getting bopped in the head when she tried to dribble the basketball before shooting it and nearly going deaf from a shriek when one of the balls finally went in the basket. Em cheered from beside us, giving Georgia pointers that went largely ignored.

The buzzer sounded with a measly one point on the board, but my girl was having fun and that was all that mattered. Georgia cheered for her one point and clapped her hands on my cheeks.

“We did it, Wa-wy!” I felt her lean down and kiss the crown of my head. My heart turned to mush in an instant. God, I loved this kid.

I squeezed her calf and bounced her on my shoulders over to the next carnival attraction: the bottle throw. Em insisted Georgia come off my shoulders so I could get in a round. I was about to protest when Em gave me a pointed look. I held up my hands in peace and let her pull Georgia off my shoulders. I knew better than to argue with the mama bear. Handing over the necessary tickets, the game operator set five balls on the counter and pointed at the pyramid of bottles twenty feet away.

I warmed up my arm with some arm swings. “Everyone over forty needs a warmup,” I explained to Em, who just rolled her eyes and laughed. She’d understand one day when she reached my age. Just daily living caused weird injuries. “Stand back, girls.”

Georgia giggled and gave me a wide berth. I cocked my arm back and let the first ball fly, knocking all but one bottle over. The girls cheered and I felt like I was sixteen again, trying to impress a girl. This time, however, I was trying to impress my wife. I kept throwing, knocking all the pyramids over by the last ball. The game operator pointed to the top row of stuffed animals and I pointed at the worst one. It was bright pink, sparkly, and resembled a deranged unicorn. Immediately I handed it over to Georgia who looked so excited I worried she might pass out. Tucking it under her arm, she skipped ahead of us, off to see the next attraction. I laced my fingers with Em’s and swung our hands between us, feeling like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

I’d arrived here in Blueball with concerns for my father, a big huge question mark when it came to my future, and a disconcerting sense that life had passed me by. Not now though. Now I felt like I’d been waiting to come back to this town, to this woman, and this little girl.

“There you are!”

Em and I turned to see Paisley and her family rushing up to us. Paisley gave us both hugs and Gannon clapped me on the shoulder. Their oldest daughter, Cora, was nowhere to be found. Probably off with a swarm of other preteens giggling over the boys. Aster and Georgia were shrieking unintelligible words as they pet the unicorn.

“We were hoping to take Georgia with us on some of the smaller rides so Aster doesn’t have to go alone. Can we steal her for an hour?”

Em said it was fine, and after agreeing to a meeting place and a time, Georgia ran off with her friend and her family, leaving Em and I alone with the entire town racing around the fairgrounds. Anton had peeled off after a couple of carnival games, saying he was headed for the beer tent to enjoy all the local brews while flirting with the single women of Blueball.

I turned to Em and waggled my eyebrows. She looked positively delicious in a blue-and-white sundress, her tan legs on full display. Her hair was down and I’d never been more proud to have a woman on my arm. I’d been having a hard time keeping my eyeballs in check since she came out of her room after her shower.

“Wanna go back to my truck and make out?”

She bit back a grin. “Is that what you used to do at the Blueball Summer Crawl?”

I shrugged, remembering a time or two that that was the case. “I actually have something I always wanted to do at this carnival that just never happened.”

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