Page 39 of Eleven of a Kind

“I hope she wasn’t any trouble,” he said.

“No trouble at all. She put up this jewelry display for me.”

“It looks good. Are you ready, Riley?”

“Yeah. Let me grab my backpack from the back.”

Raj strutted over and stood next to me.

“Dr. Kind, this is one of my sales associates, Raj. Raj, Riley’s father, Dr. Kind.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Raj.” He extended his hand.

“The pleasure is all mine, sir.” Raj grinned, and I lightly kicked his foot with mine.

“You both can call me Gabriel.”

“I’m ready, Dad.” Riley walked over.

“Thanks for all of your hard work.” I smiled at her. “I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

“Thanks, Piper.” Gabriel smiled.

“You’re welcome, Gabriel. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

“You too.” The corners of his mouth curved upward before he and Riley walked out of the shop.

“Be still my rapidly beating heart,” Raj said. “That man is sexy as fuck.”

“I know.” I sighed.

CHAPTER14

Gabriel

“How was school today?” I asked Riley as we climbed into the car.

“It was okay. I’m really excited because we’re doing pottery in art class tomorrow.”

“You like to do pottery?” I glanced at her.

“I love it. My mom’s friend owns a pottery studio back in Georgia. I spent a lot of time there. Didn’t you see the pottery pieces I made on my Facebook page?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“I’m really good at it. Yasmin told me that I have a special kind of talent. She said I have excellent hand-eye coordination and great creative vision. Kind of like Freya with her paintings.”

“That’s great, Riley. Maybe we can find you a pottery studio around here, and you can take some classes.”

“I don’t take classes. I already know how to do it. Yasmin taught me everything I need to know. I just create what I want. What’s for dinner?”

“I was going to grill some burgers. Sound good?”

“That’s fine.” She shrugged. “I’m going for a swim before I start my homework.” She ran up the stairs.

While prepping the burgers, I couldn’t stop thinking about Piper Primrose. Why? She was beautiful, and I like beautiful women. Something about her besides her looks intrigued me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I took the plate of burgers to the grill on the patio and put them on.

“Don’t forget the cheese,” Riley said from the pool.

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