“No, we can’t have that. Now let’s get you and your big boobs home.” Charity climbed into the passenger seat and closed the door as Grace started the Escalade.
“Bi boos!” Rose Marie crowed from the backseat of the Escalade. Grace gave Charity the stink eye as Charity snorted with laughter and reached back to Rose Marie to give her a baby high-five.
Grace wrinkled up her nose and muttered, “I think you’ve been spending too much time at my house lately.”
“You adore me and you have a pool. The attraction is obvious.”
“You’re just lucky she already says ‘Da-da.’ If ‘big boobs!’ was the first thing that Jack, Ethan, or Adam ever heard her say, they’d know who taught it to her.”
Rose Marie cackled. “Bi boos!”
Grace added, “And they’re not big boobs. They’re just right, according to the men in my life.”
Charity laughed and grabbed her own boobs. “They’re chingo chee-chees! Enormous hooters!”
“Chee-chees!” crowed the baby.
Grace was laughing so hard she had tears and pressed the heel of both palms to her breasts as the discussion inspired a let-down reflex. “Will you stop! They’re sensitive to discussion. And Ethan said just this morning that they were the most perfect breasts he’d ever had the pleasure of—”
Charity stuck her fingers to her ears. “Lalalalalalalalah! I can’t hear you!”
“Lalalalalalalah!” squawked the pint-size parrot in the backseat.
Grace did her best to glower at Charity as she laughed. “You’re a bad influence.”
“I can’t help it. They’ve gotten so big that I can hardly talk to you without staring at them. They’re distracting.”
“Oh, hush. Yours were just as enormous with Beau and Justine and I never teased you.” She finally found Seth’s cell phone number and sighed with relief when she heard a faint yawn from the car seat behind them. “Here he is.”
“You’re just going to get voice mail.”
“That’s okay.” The recording of Seth’s rugged, soft-spoken voice played, asking her to leave a message. “Hi, Seth, this is Grace Warner. I just wanted to invite you to our informal Fourth of July family reunion tomorrow. Everyone is going to be there. Rosemary Garner has the flatbed trailer and tents set up in front of Cheaver’s, so we’ll have shady seats for the parade. We’re barbequing at the ranch for lunch and then we’ll hang out, ride horses, play in the pool, or whatever. At nightfall, we’re all heading out to Bowie Lake for the fireworks. I hope you can make it. Call me if you have any questions. Bye.”
“There’s no way he’ll be able to turn down that winsome invitation.”
“I can’t help it if I’m charming and sweet. It offsets your natural gifts.”
“Which one? Snarkiness or bitchiness?”
“I was gonna say wit and sarcasm, but whatever.” Grace looked back at Rose Marie, who had nodded off. “Thank goodness she’s conked out. I’d have a lot of explaining to do if she came home having learned how to say ‘bitch.’” She ended with a whisper on the last word.
“I think it’s a given with the guys that whatever foul language she picks up came from me, so you should be safe. Just wait until she’s sixteen and her auntie takes her shopping for her first vibrator.”
* * * *
Seth Carter maneuvered the Harley around the block and contemplated going back inside to ask that beautiful librarian if she’d like to go for a ride after work. Jayne had seemed pretty straitlaced, and she’d probably be fearful of his bike, as fragile as she looked.
The memory of the vulnerable look in her eyes as he’d helped her up from the floor swam in his mind. The recollection of her pure, clean scent awakened his cock as he recalled the second time their paths collided. At the checkout counter, her accidental touch on his hand had been like a butterfly’s wings. Her pretty eyes were blue and green with a golden-brown ring blending the two colors together. He’d wanted to take his time gazing at them but realized his scrutiny made her self-conscious.
His body had responded to the rosy flush in her cheeks with a rush of heat a little farther south. He’d been captivated by the grace of her manicured hands as she did her job. She had beautiful ivory skin, and the artist in him saw it as a perfect, pristine canvas, but even unadorned he’d thought she was stunning. In the overhead lights, her long brown hair had shimmered, and he’d be willing to bet that in the sun the red in her hair was glorious. Maybe when he returned the books he’d test the waters.