Page 51 of The Kiss Keeper
“It’s Toby,” Maddie said, pointing up into a giant oak. “He climbed up way too high. We told him to stop.”
Finn paced back and forth. “I tried to climb up and help him down, but—”
“I have to pee!” Toby called from way too damn high up a tree, his voice a mix of fear and urgency.
“He says that if he moves, he’ll pee his pants,” Finn added, shaking his head like a frustrated parent.
“Okay,” Natalie said with her hands on her hips, gazing up at Toby’s dangling legs. “I’ve climbed this tree a million times. This is nothing to worry about. I’ll go up and get him.”
“What if he pees on you?” Annabelle whispered with wide eyes.
Josie wrinkled her nose. “Ew!”
“He won’t,” Natalie answered.
Tucker glanced up at his brother. “What if he pees on us when you’re bringing him down?”
Natalie chewed her lip. “Okay, I’ve got a solution for that. Everyone, hold hands, and take three giant steps away from the tree.”
They quickly complied.
“I’ve really gotta go!” Toby wailed.
“My mom will bereallymad if Toby pees his pants, Aunt Nat,” Tucker called from the safe zone.
“Yeah, she’ll bereallymad at me,” Natalie said under her breath.
“Let me go.”
She turned to him. “Jake, you did not sign up for rescuing a seven-year-old with a full bladder from a tree.”
He chuckled. “That may be the first time that phrase has ever been uttered.”
She dropped her head and sighed. “How good of a climber are you?”
He cracked his knuckles. “Master level.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I pretty much lived in this tree when I was a girl.”
He schooled his features. “Is that a challenge?”
“Aunt Nat! I can’t hold it much longer!”
A playful glint in her eye answered his question.
“Ready, set…” he began.
“Go!” she cried, striding toward the tree.
And sweet baby Jesus! She wasn’t kidding. He’d been free climbing for years, but Natalie hit each branch like she was part primate. Except, there was nothing primate about her smooth, toned legs, moving from branch to branch. And then he got a quick glimpse of hot pink lace and the curve of her ass.
“Holy hell,” he said, unable to hold back.
Natalie stopped climbing, glanced down at the kids below, and then up at the child, clutching the trunk for dear life before awkwardly pressing her knees together. “Don’t you dare look up my dress, Jake Teller!”
He shrugged. “You’re the one who cheated to get ahead.”
“Aunt Nat, I’m gonna blow!”
