Page 11 of Fall for You
After all, the guy was best friends with the archenemy, Eric Spencer. He’d lied by omission to Dallas’s twin sister and had very nearly broken her heart.
Dallas frowned at the memory. He and Bailey might not always get along, but that didn’t mean Dallas didn’t love her.
He’d have personally destroyed Drew for hurting her.
But, luckily for all involved, Drew had groveled, Bailey had forgiven, and Dallas was spared having to ruin the guy’s life.
And now, after working alongside Drew for a few weeks…Dallas actually liked the guy.
Not that he’d ever admit it to Bailey. It was way too much fun to rile her up by pretending he was still holding a grudge over his friendship with the enemy. Although, if her boyfriend ever did anything to betray this family and side with a Spencer over a King, those amicable feelings Dallas had for Drew Olsen would disintegrate in a heartbeat.
A few seconds after Drew left, the doors swung open again and Willow finally entered.
She stopped short. “Dallas?” Not even a microsecond passed before she was racing across the kitchen and launching herself at him.
He caught her with a grin, laughing as she squeezed him tight. “Hey, kiddo.”
She pulled back and gave him a glare that would have been terrifying if she wasn’t cuter than a floppy-eared puppy. “I’m not a kid anymore. Can’t we come up with a new nickname?”
He pretended to think it over. “It’s kiddo or Tinkerbell. I’ve got nothing else.”
She swatted his arm. “Fine…” Her smile turned into a smirk. “Cowboy.”
His smug smile faded, just a little. He’d never been a fan of that nickname, and his littlest sister knew it.
When he was no more than six, he’d heard about the Dallas Cowboys and thought they werehispersonal football team. He’d just assumed that they’d named themselves in his honor and every game was played for the glory of all things Dallas King. Well, his parents thought that was adorable and laughingly toldeveryone they knew.
It went on for years…and leave it to his annoying siblings to latch on to that lil’ nugget and never let it go.
He held his hands up in surrender, making Willow laugh. The sound was a tangible reminder of his childhood. Or maybe it was being here in his grandmother’s kitchen.
True, it’d been changed quite a bit to accommodate so many guests, but it still felt like a home away from home. And Willow’s laughter was a reminder of all the good times they’d had here when they were young.
“How’ve you been?” He trailed her around the kitchen as she got back to work, clearly picking up a recipe right where she’d left off.
She tossed him a smile over her shoulder. “Good. You?”
He nodded. “Fine.”
A silence passed, and he had Antony in his head, reminding him of why he was here.“Find out what’s up with her.”
Easier said than done. Talking had never been his strong suit. If one of his siblings had a problem, he’d always been the first to step in.
Bullies? Handled.
Fear of heights? Nothing a shove off the diving board couldn’t fix.
But when it came to talking stuff out…
He was not the sibling one came to. This was Bailey’s turf. Or Brandon’s. Or, heck, even Antony was better at getting people to open up than he was.
He cleared his throat, listening to her melodic hum as she cubed potatoes with a speed and efficiency that would slice most people’s thumbs off. He shifted against the counter, his lips twitching as he tried to come up with a good opening line.
Then he shifted again when he was clearly in her way.
“Hand me that spoon, please.” Willow pointed to a spoon beside him, and he realized he’d been just…standing there, watching her cook like she was hosting a YouTube show.
You need to start talking or get out of her way!
