Page 112 of Delinquent Daddy (Banks/Kincaid Family 2)

"How does seven sound?"

Seven o'clock. Boston would be gone by six with Cassie.

That would give her an hour to prepare. Perfect.

261

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"It sounds great," she answered.

"Then...great," he said, pitching his voice even lower as he grinned at her. "I'll see you Friday at seven." He turned to leave then but drew short at the last seconds, swinging back to eye her peculiarly for a moment. "Just curious, but what changed your mind?"

Ellie didn't figure she should tell him the truth— it was either you or no one, bud. Sorry. Giving him one of those Mona Lisa smiles, she grinned and said, "I just thought that after all those mints you stole from my jar, you probably owed me a full-course meal by now."

His gaze slid slowly to her candy jar and then back to her.

She could see by the gleam in his eyes how her comment delighted him.

"Well now, ma'am," he told her in a silken voice, "I'll do everything in my power to make sure you get your money's worth."

[Back to Table of Contents]

262

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Chapter Seventeen

Ellie gnawed on her bottom lip and stared impatiently at her wristwatch until the phone rang. She yelped, not expecting the sound, and pressed a hand to her heart.

It was finally Friday, the day for her big date, and Boston hadn't shown yet. Okay, to be fair it wasn't even six o'clock, but the man was usually so impatient to get Cassie, he showed up obscenely early to fetch her. But tonight, it was two till and he was nowhere around. It was as if he knew she had plans for once in her life and was doing everything in his power to keep her nerves rattled.

"Hello," she answered, hoping it wasn't Ted to cancel. After borrowing a dress from Nora, she was actually excited for a fancy night out.

"Ellie." The voice calling through the crackling phone lines sounded as if it came from a long distance. Her stomach tingled in apprehension. In the background, she heard traffic noise and occasional honking.

She pressed a hand to one ear, hoping to hear him better.

"Boston?"

"I'm sorry," he gushed. "I'm stuck in a major traffic jam on the interstate. There's some kind of wreck up ahead and no one is moving."

"Oh." Her shoulders dragged. Shoot. "Ah..."

"I'm only about ten miles outside Lawerence. But there's no way I'm going to get there by six."

263

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

"Umm, okay." Damn. "Uh..." She wondered briefly what he wanted her to do about it. "So...do you know when you'll make it?"

---