Page 19 of Miss Humbug
“Would you prefer I whistle?”
I glared. He grinned.
I checked whether the two kids followed. “Do the scavenger stops need to be done in order? Do we need a basket? I saw Cara with a basket.”
Mallory tugged at my sleeve. “Is Ethan your boyfriend, Auntie Marlowe?”
Shoot. We hadn’t been holding hands or anything. Maybe it was a kid thing to ask. No, wait. We weresupposedto be dating. But were we dating to the point where Ethan was my boyfriend? Had it gone from casual to formal already?
“Sure am,” Ethan responded. “Right?” He looked at me.
“Yes.” I didn’t sound as confident as I had last night when I’d suggested we roll with the idea.
Mallory swung her arms in lazy circles. “Okay.”
Excellent. Kids were so easy.
“Can we get hot chocolate?” she asked.
“No,” I said, as Ethan answered, “After we find the first clue.”
Ethan’s cheeks reddened. “Sorry. I figured it could be a nice reward for solving the first riddle.”
“It’s ariddle?” I felt actual pain at this detail.
Adam danced around me wildly. “Woof? Woof woof!”
Ah. The barking had resumed.
We completed the scavenger hunt and returned to the designated spot ahead of all the other teams.
“Yes.” I held up my hand to high-five the kids, then Ethan. “Nice work, team.”
From the shadows, a slow-clapping Shawn emerged. “Nice try, Mar-Mar. But you got beat. By me.”
Given he had Ashe and Cara’s oldest kid, Tyler, he hadn’t been slowed down by hot chocolate, a bathroom break, and a child who believed he was a dog. Every single fire hydrant…
Rafe, Riley and crew torpedoed at us in full force. Many complaints arose from realizing they were not first place. Or second.
After another ten minutes, Cara and Ashe wandered over. They held hands and looked all goo-goo eyed at each other.
“They managed to offload their kids for the hunt,” Ethan noted.
Ashe grinned. “We found our fun.”
“Ew.” Too far.
Ashe rolled his eyes. “You’re such a child.”
Inside, I stewed. He’d only ever think of me as his little kid sister. I might as well have been in pigtails and diapers.
“We should probably play up the dating angle,” Ethan whispered to me. “We’re still acting like friends.”
I snapped out of my funk. Ethan’s breath tickled my ear, sending a welcome shiver across my skin. I grabbed his hand, glove to glove. I wished we could ditch the fabric barrier to feel his fingers against mine.
You know, because his hand might be warm. “Is anyone noticing we’re holding hands?” I whispered back.
Ethan scanned the crowd. “No. But kids dish details and Mallory and Adam were with us for the last hour and a half. Ashe and Cara will know soon enough.”
