Foolish Games(47)

Julianne felt something stir inside her, something other than fear. It was more like desire. And relief that her instincts were not wrong about Will. If he were all the things her brother said he was, he wouldn’t be hovering over his sleeping son, worried about his exposure to loud noise.

“Seriously, dude, that kid will be able to play in any stadium if he can withstand this kind of noise.” Brody’s voice was filled with awe as he glanced into the stroller.

Will answered him with his patented glare. A crowd had started to gather, and Julianne wanted to avoid another argument like the one they’d had in the kitchen the other day.

“There you are,” she said, improvising as she went. “I just came to see if you would be home for lunch today.”

The befuddled look on Will’s face was amusing. True to her word, she hadn’t cooked a thing for anyone but herself since arriving in town. Any leftovers had suspiciously disappeared during the night, but she let that go since it was his kitchen.

Julianne took a step closer, whispering through her pasted-on smile. “Be nice, I’m playing the dutiful wife here.” Slowly, so everyone could glimpse her shiny, fake wedding band, she reached up and ran a hand over his well-defined pectoral muscle. Will’s body went rigid beneath her touch, but his eyes were blazing. She sucked in a breath, drawing her trembling hand back and placing it on the handle of the stroller to steady herself.

“I’ll see you at home then,” she called out as she hurriedly pushed the stroller out of the gym, not risking a glance back at her husband.





Fifteen





“Oh my gosh! This place is cooler than I thought it would be!”

Annabeth looked up from the antique humidor she was repairing, startled to hear Sophie Osbourne’s voice in her shop.

“Sophie! I hadn’t heard from you so I thought you weren’t coming.” Annabeth hurriedly wiped the wood polish off her hands. Sophie hadn’t texted or e-mailed in several days, leaving Annabeth to think either the girl hadn’t been successful in bringing up her grade or she’d just lost interest. She’d hoped it was the latter, not wanting Hank to be right in his perception of his own daughter.

Annabeth had to catch her breath. Not only because Sophie had launched herself into her arms, but also from the sight of the girl’s father standing behind her. Dressed in khaki pants and a Blaze golf shirt, Hank looked more casual then she was used to. More handsome, too. His close-cropped sandy hair was gray at the temples and laugh lines fanned out from his smiling blue eyes, but his body language boasted of youth and vigor. He leaned a hip nonchalantly against one of the glass counters, crossing his arms over a well-muscled chest, a cat-ate-the-canary grin on his face.

“We thought we’d surprise you,” he said.

“Guess what?” Sophie stepped out of Annabeth’s arms and grabbed her hands. “I got a C-plus in physics!” She skipped gleefully in a circle, pulling Annabeth along with her.

“Oh, Soph, that’s wonderful!” Annabeth hugged her again. “I’m so proud of you.”

“And guess what else? Dad is taking me to California next week! Isn’t that great?”

Annabeth dared a look at Hank. “It’s better than great. It’s fabulous.”

“So I really don’t need the job, after all, I guess. I hope you weren’t saving it for me?”

Annabeth shook her head. Truthfully, she would have been paying Sophie out of her own pocket. The shop did okay, but not enough to support more than the one employee she already had. “As long as you keep sending me jewelry. You already will have quite a pocketful of spending money for your trip.”

Sophie’s face lit up. “Ohmigosh! It sold? Really? I brought more, but I didn’t think you would have sold any yet. It’s in my room at the inn. I’m in the Paisley room. It’s sooo cool! We’re staying here for a few days. Would it be okay if I hung out here with you while Dad plays golf? Ohmigosh, Dad, can I go get my box for Annabeth?”

She was out the door before either Annabeth or Hank could answer.

“I think you made her day.” Hank stepped away from the counter and began exploring the shop.

“I’m just so proud she did it.”

“Me, too. I’m giving her a trip to California as an apology for doubting her ability. What boon should I give you?”

She wasn’t sure what to say because she really wasn’t sure what he was asking. “Me? I don’t need anything. I didn’t do anything.”

Hank walked past her, studying the odds and ends lining the counters. He lifted a clock to examine it further. “I wouldn’t call fiercely defending a girl you barely know from her nitwit father nothing. Or encouraging her not only to go after her dream, but to put her nose to the grindstone. That wasn’t nothing. I told you this before: You have a kind heart, Miss Connelly. At least let me take you to dinner to make up for my error in judgment with my daughter.”