Page 9 of Waiting For A Girl Like You
Shoving the tongs at Ty, Ben swiped a hand through his hair as he faced Laura Jean. His mouth opened and closed, his gaze sweeping over her as she cocked an eyebrow. “Since you look so nice, I think we should go out to dinner. How does pizza sound?”
Devon and Ty turned their heads so Laura Jean couldn’t see them laughing.
Completely unfazed, Laura Jean shrugged, and Devon realized that she and the tornado of children behind her in the kitchen were dressed as if they already knew they would be going out.
“There’s a pizza place that opened on the far side of Port Michaelson,” Laura Jean said. “I read about it in the newspaper. It’s family-owned, small, and perfect for us.”
Ben and Laura Jean were still hiding their relationship. Normally, Miranda and Josie would’ve joined them, but the two were in North Carolina for their annual summer vacation while Samuel stayed at Haven House.
“Ben and I will take care of the mess out here,” Devon said, already working on the grill. “Ty, take CeCe to get ready and help the troops prepare for pizza night.”
After cleaning up what they could, he and Ben headed inside and found everyone waiting in the front foyer.
Everyone except Simone.
“Where’s my woman?”
Laura Jean passed Jamison to Ben and went to adjust a loose strap on Livy’s new summer tank top. “Simone said the spot cleaning job you did on the new grill isn’t good enough, and she’s staying behind to clean it.”
“Cleaning a grill instead of getting dinner?” Devon frowned, not quite following. “What’s that about?”
“This is what happens when you’re too smart,” Ty mumbled, bending down to tie Abe’s shoelace. “You don’t get subtle clues.”
“Alone.” Laura Jean rolled her eyes. “You and Simone will be cleaning the grillalonein the house.”
Alone.
With Simone.
“Oh.”
Laura Jean clapped her hands and put on hermomvoice to address the crowd. “Okay, people, we’re going two by two. Abe, there will be no running off. Evie, there will be no fighting with Samuel. Samuel, you will not tease Evie. Toby, stay with Evie. Annabeth and CeCe, you will not wander away to explore together. If Selah or Livy tells anyone to do something, you will do it. Does everyone understand?”
With a unified “yes, ma’am,” the kids lined up at the front door in their proper order. Selah holding Abe’s hand, Livy and Samuel side by side, Toby and Evie together as always, and finally, Annabeth and CeCe at the end.
Devon bent down to speak to Annabeth and CeCe. They were decked out in matching blue dresses and clutching twin Tickle Me Elmos tightly in their arms. The toys would drive the adults insane on the car ride, and since they were doing him and Simone a favor, the very least he could do was eliminate their time with the most annoying toys in existence.
“Let me have your Elmos. We don’t want them to get lost.”
The girls didn’t argue—they never did—and kissed him on the cheek as they left.
“Thanks for getting rid of the Elmos,” Ben said, carrying Jamison to the door. “Enjoy your night.”
“Take as long as you want with your pizza.”
“And go-kart racing,” Laura Jean added, pushing Ben a little when he paused with a horrified expression on his face. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Ben. It’ll be fun!”
The door closed, and in the unnatural quiet, Devon immediately headed to the rear of the house. He told himself not to run and to try at least to maintain some semblance of coolness. But when he reached the kitchen and found Simone pouring two glasses of wine, wearing the skimpiest nightgown he’d ever seen, the effort was lost.
Even the Tickle Me Elmos were impressed, giggling in his arms when he accidentally squeezed them too tightly.
Simone glanced over her shoulder and turned just the right way to show off the matching underwear. “Play some music. I want to dance with my husband.”
“Dance?” Devon set the toys on the counter. “I was thinking of doing something else.”
“Oh, we will.” Simone sipped from her glass of wine, the red lipstick she wore staining the rim. “Several times over. Laura Jean promised that they wouldn’t be back until midnight.”
They had the entire house until midnight?
