Page 8 of Fire and Ice
Damn.
“My favorite homemade meal is a bowl of Cap’n Crunch and a glass of malted milk.”
Her smile lit up the whole damned grocery store.
“Maybe you should take a few cooking lessons. You might enjoy it then.” She had a warmth to her tone that made him think she was coming around to consider dating him.
He couldn’t hold back another grin. “Are you offering to teach me?”
“What?” She blinked. “No. I mean, well, no.”
“Too bad.” He held her gaze. “I might take to following you around like a lost puppy. I’d be hot for the teacher. Hell, I already am.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked embarrassed.
Maybe a little too much, too fast.
“I’m teasing.” He watched the tension leave her expression. “At least part of it was. You have to guess which part.”
“No dice.” She seemed to be able to jump right in when it came to the teasing. She was probably used to it after raising her siblings. “I know a losing hand when I see one.”
A laugh rose in his chest. “Something tells me you’ve played cards a time or two.”
“Try twelve hundred.” She rolled her eyes to look up at the perforated ceiling panels for a moment. She glanced back at him. “The kids—my sisters and brothers—always wanted to play when they were young. We started with Go Fish when they were little and ended up with Texas Hold’em before their teens.” He liked the way her eyes softened when she talked about her brothers and sisters. It was clear she loved them.
“I’m the youngest out of a big, noisy, Irish family.” He shook his head. “Three older brothers and six sisters. Then there are all the aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces, grandparents, and of course my own parents. Longevity in our family tree is crazy.”
Except the alcoholics, who tended to live shorter lives.
Not going there now.
If Chelsea agreed to date him, he’d have to tell her sooner or later. It needed to be sooner.
“Your family sounds huge.” Chelsea tipped her head to the side. “We have just the five of us. Five brothers and sisters sound like a lot to some people, but both of our parents were only children, and we only had one living grandmother before she passed away years ago. We don’t have any aunts, uncles, cousins, or other grandparents—just us.”
Her smile faltered as she continued. “Our parents were killed when the bridge they were driving over collapsed. The girls were four and three, and the boys were eighteen months old. Fortunately, none of the kids were in the car. After our mom and dad passed, our Grandmother Janice took us in until she died.”
Chelsea’s statement about her grandmother had a hard edge to it, and Grady had no doubt that Chelsea hadn’t been fond of the older woman. He wondered why.
“I have enough family for both of us, and then some,” he said. “We have fifty or sixty in our clan, including extended family, and that’s just in this country.”
Her jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me?”
He shook his head. “We might as well be a small town when we get together for a reunion.”
“How do you keep track of everyone?” She looked at him with amazement in her expression. “A spreadsheet?”
He laughed. “Now there’s a great idea.”
“I’m full of them.” She gripped the cart handle and leaned forward, an impish look. “Grady Donovan is a very Irish name. Are you part leprechaun?”
“That I am, lassie.” He did his best impression of an old Irishman speaking in a deep brogue. He switched his speech back to normal. “You are amazing on the ice—I could watch you for hours. I can see how you were a world champion.”
“Thank you.” Clear confidence altered her expression. “It used to be everything to me. I lived to skate. I still can’t wait to get on the ice as often as possible.” She tilted her head to the side. “How did you know?”
He shrugged. “Small town.”
“True.” She seemed to relax as they fell into conversation. “It’s almost like everyone knows their neighbor’s business.”
