Page 59 of The Troublemaker

“What’s that thing?” Brandon asks, as he comes into the kitchen to examine the very strange looking oven from another generation. I’m not even sure they make something similar today.

“It’s—” I begin, but stop when Cason talks.

“It’s only the coolest toy in the world,” he says. “And the best surprise I’ve ever received in my entire life.”

His gaze lifts to mine, and my heart leaps into my tight throat as he gazes at me with pure adoration. “You did this for me?” he asks in a low voice, a storm brewing behind intense eyes.

“I thought it would be fun, you know. We can make some cakes or brownies.” I reach behind me and pull out a full-size cake mix. “They don’t make the little ones anymore, but we can use this,” I say, holding up the big box of dark chocolate delight, a little frazzled by his reaction. I thought he’d get a kick out of it, but there is more going on beneath the surface.

“I can’t believe you did this.” He lets go of Casey’s hand and the little boy saunters over, examining the machine like it’s the eighth wonder of the world. That makes me laugh. Kids today are so hooked on video games they have no idea how much fun these old things were. Although, all the offspring of all the Seattle Shooters who are here this weekend aren’t plunked in front of the television. No, they’re outside playing and swimming and fishing. If I ever had kids, these are the ones I’d want them to be playing with.

My stomach takes that moment to squeeze. Yes. I want kids. I want them with the man who is staring at me with warmth and appreciation. The world closes in a little, the room growing smaller, as part of me thinks it’s quite possible that I could have it all with this man, considering the way he’s staring at me.

“Cason…” He blinks as if to take himself out of his trance, and a stupid measure of worry, thanks to past experiences, seeps under my skin. Did I make a mistake? Am I reading him wrong? Is this just silly? “Do you no—”

“I love it,” he says, and I fold my arms around myself, loving that word on his tongue. “How…when? We traveled here together.”

I chuckle. “I hid it on the floor of the backseat.”

“I had no idea.”

“See, you’re not the only one full of surprises.”

“How does it work?” Brandon asks, and I look at his big curious blue eyes.

“Well, it works like a real oven, but it’s made for kids, so they get to bake but don’t risk burning themselves with a real oven.”

“I want to bake,” Casey says.

I ruffle his hair. “Good. I’m going to teach you how.”

Cason still hasn’t come into the kitchen. He continues to watch me from the doorway, and my heart still in my throat continues to pound. I can barely catch my breath as he watches me with warm, appreciative, yet fascinated eyes, like I might have just solved world hunger. The Easy Bake Oven won’t do that, but wow, I do love the way this man looks at me. It teases me in ways that makes me think he might want more.

“Are you going to join us?” I ask Cason and he takes a step closer. My breath catches simply from the way he moves. He gets closer and his warm scent washes over me. He steps behind me, his fingers trailing over my lower back, telegraphing a secret message between lovers. He likes this, and he’s going to make sure he shows me how much later.

I can’t wait.

“What do we do?” Brandon asks.

“Have you baked before, Brandon?” I ask.

“I made cookies with Mommy.”

“Can we make cookies?” Casey asks, his big eyes wide. My heart almost hurts as I look at his cute, eager face.

“Is cake okay?” I ask.

Casey nods. “I like cake.”

“How about chocolate icing?”

“I like chocolate icing,” Cason says and I get the sneaking suspicion that it’s not the cake he wants iced up—it’s me. There is nothing I can do to suppress the hard quake going through me and he grins, knowing very well why.

“I’ll let you lick the beaters then.”

“I want to lick the beaters,” Brandon says.

Casey climbs onto a chair. “Me, too.”

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