Page 71 of Seductive Scoundrel

I’ve been replaying the last text conversation we had, not sure how to take his “we’ll talk” comment. Knowing Mr. Big, it could mean many different things. I just hope he’s not planning on returning the way too expensive gifts I’ve sent this week and telling me to lose his number. If that’s his intention, I won’t blame him, although it’ll kill me.

That possibility is what drove me to come home for a long weekend. GI Jane wasn’t thrilled, but I promised to compile and send the report she wants by Saturday night, instead of Monday afternoon. It’s a small compromise for the opportunity to get away from NYC.

I just need to be with family while preparing for the fact that my heart may never be the same. That man has changed me in ways I never thought possible.

“Auntie M, what do you think? Auntie M!” Phoebe, my three-year-old niece, demands as she tugs on my jacket. “Auntie M!”

“Sorry, peanut,” I reply, forcing my mind back to the present. I bend down so that we’re at eye level. “What’s up?”

Her little finger points to a giant pumpkin on the other side of the patch. “That one.”

“That one, hey?”

She nods, her dark eyes lighting up.

“I think it weighs as much as you do.”

My joke elicits a giggle from her little body, filling me with happiness. No matter how heavy that sucker is, we’ll lug it back to the shack where my parents and sister are enjoying a hot apple cider. Being the fool I am, I said I’d help Phoebe pick out her pumpkin.

We make our way over vines and around perfectly good pumpkins she doesn’t want until we reach the mother of all pumpkins.

It’s freaking huge!

“Yes!” she screams, jumping up and down, pointing at the monstrosity that’s supposed to transform into a cute jack-o-lantern. “This one!”

My head is nodding, but it’s not in agreement, it’s in disbelief. This is going to be interesting.

“Let’s shift it out into the path,” I say, breaking off the vine. Phoebe laughs as we tug and twist the giant vegetable, moving it forward a mere two feet while sweat breaks out across my forehead.

“Can I give you ladies a hand?” a deep voice asks.

“Uncle Kyle,” Phoebe enthuses.

I straighten up, meeting dark brown eyes that are as familiar as my own. “He’snotyour uncle,” I immediately correct. “We were never married.”

Kyle’s smile falters for just a moment, then it’s back full force. It never fails to amaze me how he can fake emotion. I guess that why he’s such a good politician and a horrible boyfriend.

“This is a nice surprise,” he says, his eyes roaming over my face. “You look beautiful.”

I’m a sweaty mess, but he’s always been a good liar. “You haven’t changed a bit. Come on, Phoebe, let’s go back and get you a yummy hot chocolate.”

I hold my hand out for hers, but she just stands there, looking up at me. “Pumpkin.”

“Sweetie, we’ll find another pumpkin. Let’s go,” I cajole as the need to get away from the high definition reminder of my past overwhelms me.

This is exactly why I left Kansas in the first place.

“Let me carry it back to the shack,” Kyle says. “It’s the least I can do. Right, kiddo?”

Phoebe’s frown turns upside down. “Right, Uncle Kyle! Please, Auntie M.”

Her smile melts me. “Just make it quick, Kyle.”

He lifts the pumpkin, then follows behind us. I don’t look back even though Phoebe is telling him everything from the name of her preschool teacher to details about my life she must have overheard from my sister.

“So, Auntie M has a boyfriend now,” Kyle reiterates, his voice cracking, but I’m not sure if it’s from emotion or the weight of the gigantic pumpkin.

Hopefully, he falls into an equally gigantic hole with it.

---