Page 79 of Afternoon Delight
That put the whole place into hysterics.
Negasi waved her forward. “Yes, Vickie. Come help suture this up.”
Mom disappeared backstage, and the show went on. She returned twenty minutes later, wonder in her eyes. “You should see the racks of costumes. It’s like the Oscars.”
After that, she was determined to offer her notions and craft supplies to the cast of Pretty Please, but she also agreed to let me hold this garage sale to unload extra dishes, old curtain rods, night tables, an unused area rug, a pair of lamps, the filing cabinet Shelby had emptied, and various other dribs and drabs.
“Thanks for helping,” I said to Zak as he affixed bits of masking tape to everything and wrote fire-sale prices on them. “It’s really nice of you.”
“You think I’m being nice? No. I’ll be here bright and early with my sister’s monsters. I’m on uncle duty all day tomorrow.”
“Oh.” I bit back my smirk, recalling the deal Zak had struck with Kyle last weekend when we’d met at the Dogwood. “With your dad, too? That’s a lot.” Oliver seemed like a handful all by himself.
“Dad’s going to a respite group at one of the care homes we’re considering.”
“Oh.” I sobered and stopped picking at the roll of tape for the end. “How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know. It seems like a nice enough place, but...” He shrugged, expression guarded. “We’ll see how it goes.”
“I completely forgot that you were taking the kids or I would have scheduled this differently so I could help you with them.” Sunday was my only real day off, and I had wanted to keep things moving, now that Mom was on board.
“We’ll be fine.” He shrugged again, this time more easily. “We’ll swing by here so they can buy something from your box of knickknacks, then we’re going to the trampoline park, the arcade, and the bug zoo. They each got to pick one.”
“You’re a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?”
“I’ve taken the older two before. They’re pretty low-maintenance. I’ve never been out with Ollie, though. He’s mostly potty trained, or so my sister claims.” He frowned at my picking fingers. “Did you seriously lose the end again? Stick to your skill set.” He came to take the roll of tape.
“You say that like you know what my skill set is.”
“I do, actually.” He sent me a heated look as the tape gave a satisfying rasp. “Dirty talk.” He held my gaze as he bit off a chunk. “Spirit of adventure. Ability to give clear direction.” He was looking at me the way he had when he lifted a hand outside Room Seven and watched me drive away. Sexy. Pleased.
“What about the consummate way I jump double Dutch?” I asked, referring to the swing.
“See, it’s not the store. You make everything sound filthy.” He smoothed the tape across the back of my hand, then pulled the fine-tipped marker from behind his ear. He wrote Priceless on it.
“I feel like you’re being sarcastic.”
“I’m not.” He crowded closer, head dipping. His hand splayed against my waist, inviting me to press up against him.
Damn, he felt good.
I slid my arms around his neck and offered my mouth for the kiss we both wanted. It was lazy and thorough, sending swirls of arousal through me. My ears were open to Roddie or Mom or Dale coming into the garage, but no one interrupted us. We kissed until we were breathless, then drew apart, looking at each other with amusement and hunger—and the memory of last weekend in our eyes. With want for another hour of privacy and debauchery.
“I should get Dad home for his game shows,” Zak said reluctantly.
I nodded, wistful. I wanted more time with him. A lot more time.
Perhaps he felt the same. He left soon after, but turned up at nine a.m. on the dot the next morning, along with all the early birds swooping in for first crack at our sale items.
I hadn’t met his niece, Jade, yet. She was five and I could tell right away she was the little mom of the group. She kept Ollie’s attention as she showed him all the toys in the box while Roddie tried to sell Lance his PS3. Lance was only curious because it was older than he was.
“Might as well take it to the antique shop,” Roddie said in a disgusted aside to Zak.
“Kids these days,” Zak commiserated.
“Right? My sister and I were really excited to get the Three for Christmas, even though we had asked for the Four. Grandma got this one because it was on sale.”
“That must’ve stung.” Zak’s show of empathy was deeply facetious. I expected an Oh, muffin to follow.
