"How many do you want?" Julie asked.
"Just two," Amanda said. These two specifically, even though she knew she could never have the Silverton pair to herself. Even if a relationship worked out with Jacob, Julie was Tina's daughter and she always would be, no matter how much Amanda adored her.
"Could you keep an eye on her for a bit?" Jacob asked. "I want to grab a quick shower."
"No problem."
When Amanda scooted onto the stool next to Julie's, Jacob leaned in with puckered lips to kiss Amanda's temple. Wide-eyed, she jerked away. What was he thinking? Julie was drizzling syrup all over Amanda's pancakes and not paying much attention, but she'd have heard the sound and probably wondered why her father was kissing her aunt.
Jacob's jaw hardened as he glared at her. "Seriously?"
Amanda shook her head at him. What did he expect her to do? Shove her tongue down his throat and her hand down his pants?
"Aunt Mander, I made you a smiley face on your butterfly!" Julie said.
"Looks delicious," Amanda said. "That's enough syrup for me." Her pancakes were liable to float away on the lake of liquid sugar flooding her plate.
"We need to talk," Jacob grumbled into her ear before stroking Julie's soft blond curls with one hand and then turning to leave them alone in the kitchen.
Apparently so. She'd thought they were in agreement about keeping this fling of theirs a secret, but he didn't seem to think secrecy was important. Surely he couldn't want Julie to know they were involved. Julie liked to talk about everything she witnessed. Everything. If she caught her father and her aunt being overly affectionate, Tina wouldn't be the only person to hear the tale.
"Mommy is mad at you, Aunt Mander," Julie said as she watched Amanda dig into her pancakes.
"I know. I'm sorry I didn't come get you this morning. I stayed up past my bedtime and didn't wake up early enough."
"What's a sprawl anyway?" Julie asked.
"Huh?" Amanda lifted an eyebrow at her niece.
"Mommy said she was late for her sprawl appointment."
"Spa."
"Spraw," Julie mimicked, her dainty face screwed up with concentration.
"Spa."
"That's what I said."
"A spa is a place grownups go to get pampered."
Julie's eyes widened and she gasped. "Mommy wears a diaper there?"
Amanda didn't follow her train of thought. "A diaper?"
"My friend Rachel's baby sister wears Pampers all the time. She's not a big girl like me and Rachel yet. She still poops in her pants." Julie whispered the last part as if it were an embarrassing secret.
Amanda chuckled at the thought of Tina getting Pampered at her sprawl appointment. "No, sweetie. Mommy goes to the spa to get a massage and a mud bath and, well, I don't know what all goes on there. I've never been to one." Her sister regularly went to the spa with her friends and left Amanda with babysitting duty. Not that she minded. She'd rather spend time having tea parties with stuffed bears than sit in a tub of mud and gossip about other women.
"Sounds like a silly place. I'd rather go to the zoo."
"Me too. Are we going to the big zoo in San Antonio or the little one in Austin? Did your dad tell you which one?"
"The one that has lephalants."
"It's a long drive to the zoo that has elephants."
"That's okay," she said. "Daddy's car goes really fast. We'll get there in no time."
His two-seater Tesla was known for its quiet speed, but it didn't have room for three people.
"We'll have to take my car," Amanda said. She already had a booster seat in the back since she often had Julie in tow, especially in the summer when she had so much time off.
"Is it time to leave now?" Julie asked, drawing Amanda's attention to the gorgeous hunk of a man who'd entered the room while Amanda had been stuffing her face with pancakes.
"Is everyone done eating?" Jacob asked.
As soon as she'd noticed him, Amanda had paused with her fork halfway to her mouth as she ogled the man. He'd removed his fairy wings in favor of a black tank and black-and-white-plaid board shorts. She could see the hint of the lion tattoo on his chest above the low neckline of his shirt, and the gold cross necklace he always wore swayed slightly with his motion as he approached the breakfast bar. Wide shoulders, firm chest, ripped arms, narrow hips, and long legs-from his damp black hair to his tan, sandaled feet, the man was gorgeous.
Julie poked Amanda to gain her attention and stared at her hopefully. Amanda stuffed a final bite into her mouth and shoved her plate away. "I'm about to bust!"