“Good, because I’m always sassy, darlin’. I have a degree in sass.”
“I thought it was philosophy?”
“I minored in sass.”
“Good to know.” He’s looking at me with such humor and lust, I just want to fucking climb him right here and now.
“Well, hey there.”
“Gabby!” I stand and hug my sister tight and whisper in her ear. “He came.”
“I know, Ben called all of us.”
“Hi, Aunt Charly,” her son, Sam, says and hugs me around the waist. Ailish, her little girl, is sitting on my mama’s hip, grinning.
“Hey there, sugar. It’s been a minute since I saw you. Looks like you grew a foot.”
“I’m a growing boy,” he reminds me.
“I’m Gabby,” my sister says to Simon and I shake my head.
“I’m sorry, I’m so rude. Simon, this is my sister Gabby, her children Sam and Ailish, and my mother.”
He stands and shakes their hands and kisses their cheeks. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Well, you’re new to me,” Mama replies and glances at me with shrewd eyes. “But it’s a pleasure all the same.”
“Cha cha!” Ailish says and reaches for me, so I take her and prop her on my own hip, kissing her smooth cheek.
“This perfect angel is Ailish.” I brush her light hair off her forehead.
“She’s not an angel,” Sam says. “She ruined my Lego thing that I spent all day building.”
I laugh and glance at Simon. He’s staring at me with hot eyes. Not with anger, but with lust and something else I can’t quite figure out.
“What are y’all up to?” I ask my family.
“Well, yesterday was Sam’s last day of school, so we decided to come into town and take Maman out for lunch,” Gabby says.
“Is Rhys gone already?” I ask, then turn to Simon. “Gabby’s husband is Rhys O’Shaughnessy. He plays baseball for the Cubs.”
“I’ve heard of him,” Simon says.
“You follow baseball in England?”
“I follow all sorts of things,” he replies. “Would you like to join us?”
“Oh no,” Mama says, but I can tell that she has an arsenal of questions for him. “But I would love it if you came to dinner before you leave town.”
“It would be an honor,” Simon replies and kisses her hand, and for the first time in my life, I see my mother blush.
“Aunt Charly, are you still taking me on the gator tour this weekend?”
Crap. I forgot.
“You don’t like gators,” I reply, teasing him.
“I do too! And you said that you’d take me to celebrate school getting out. You’ve never gone to see ’em! I have to show them to you.” His face is earnest and excited, and there’s no way I’m going to tell him no.
“You know, I’ve never seen them either,” Simon says, surprising me.
“You’d want to go with us?”
“Well, it sounds like something I should see while I’m here,” he says and winks at Sam. “And you promised him.”
“Right on!” Sam exclaims and high fives Simon.
“Sounds like we’re going to see the gators this weekend.”
“Better you than me,” Gabby replies and takes Ailish from me, who reaches her little arms out for me and pouts. I kiss her fingers.
“I’ll see you soon too, love bug.”
“Call me,” Gabby says.
They say goodbye and go inside to their table and I sit back down and finish my meal, feeling Simon’s eyes on me with each bite.
“Go ahead and ask.”
“Ask what?”
“Whatever it is that you’re thinking because it’s really loud.”
“I don’t know if it’s a question as much as an observation.”
“Okay.”
“A few observations, actually.”
I laugh and sit back to sip the rest of my martini, watching him.
“Go ahead.”
“You and your sister look a lot alike.”
“We do, yes. And Savannah looks similar as well. My father’s genes were strong.”
“And your family is closer than I realized.”
“We are incredibly close.” I nod and tilt my head. “What else?”
“Her children adore you.”
“They adore all of us.” I smile and think about my brothers with Ailish. She has them wrapped around her tiny finger. “Let’s be honest, they’re adorable.”
“They are.” His eyes smolder again as they find mine. “And you’re bloody gorgeous with a baby on your hip.”