“Are you done?” She dropped the groceries on the floor in the kitchen.
“Almost,” he called back.
He’d been in the bathroom a long time. She decided to wait by for him by the bathroom door. How anybody could look so adorable sitting on a toilet, she would never understand, but Kaden pulled it off like a champ.
“Seriously? You aren’t done yet?”
Kaden sighed, dropping his head into his tiny hands. “No. In just a minute. Okay, Mom?”
There was no stopping her smile. He was just too hilarious. “Okay, buddy.”
Oakley reached for some tissue so she’d be ready once he was finished. He’d sit there for ten minutes taking care of business, but once he was done, he became extremely impatient about the whole deal.
Of course, as soon as she pulled her phone out of her pocket to check her Facebook notifications, a knock sounded on the front door.
“Who could that be? I’ll be right back, Kade.”
No one ever knocked on her door. Cam always just let herself in and so did her family. Maybe it was FedEx. But she hadn’t ordered anything in a long time.
Whoever it was knocked again.
“I’m coming,” she said just as she yanked open the front door.
“Oh.” Oakley pulled herself up short with a gasp.
Have mercy! This was definitely not the mailman.
“Hi.”
Sweet biscuits and gravy. His voice washed over her like melted butter and he’d only said one word.
If this was her new neighbor, Cam had not exaggerated. Not. One. Bit. In fact, she hadn’t done the man justice.
“H-hi.” Great. Instead of sounding smooth like he had, she croaked like a frog in a pond.
Then he smiled. Holy smokes! She fought the urge to fan herself with her hands.
“I’m Chris. I just moved in next door. I had my mail forwarded a couple of weeks ago. When I looked this morning I had a few things that weren’t addressed to me. Are you-” he paused to check the envelope in his hand, an envelope she hadn’t noticed at all because she’d been too busy staring like a hormonal teenager. His eyes, bluer than any she’d ever seen before, met hers. “Oakley Abbott?”
Those eyes.
Wait.
Oakley. That was her name. Why was he saying her name? How did he know her name? Oh, yeah. The envelope. It must be for her.
“Oakley. Yes.” She cleared her throat. “That’s me.”
He smiled again. Whoa. Wars were fought over smiles like his. By women. She was certain of it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Oakley,” he said, holding out his hand. A hand filled with pieces of mail.
Her mail!
“Oh, my goodness. I’m sorry. Thanks.” She opened the screen door and reached out to take the envelopes with her hand.
The hand already filled with toilet tissue.
And if that wasn’t enough, Kaden finally decided he was finished in the bathroom.
“Mom. Wipe my butt! Mom. Come now!”
That was it. Her mortification was complete.
Heat rose from the center of her being and Oakley imagined she looked exactly like a thermometer in a cartoon, the red line moving up and up until the top exploded. Right then she wished her top would explode and put her out of her misery.
Or at least that the floor would open up and swallow her whole.
“I’m sorry, um-” She glanced over her shoulder.
“Mom. Wipe my butt!” Kaden screamed again. Oakley’s eyes slid shut.
It was no use. There was no coming back from humiliation like this.
Chris, aka Mr. Gorgeous-manly-hunk, his eyes lit with barely contained laughter, smiled and said, “Do you need to go take care of that?”
“Oh, my gosh. I really do. I’m so sorry.” Oakley ran toward the bathroom, her toilet paper-less hand pressed to one fiery cheek. “Come on in. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Kade!” she whisper shouted once she reached her little boy still perched on his throne.
She’d just met the most handsome man she’d ever seen in real life with a wad of toilet paper in her hand!
Chapter Four
Chris wiped a hand over his mouth in a vain attempt to calm down his grin. He had a feeling his pretty neighbor would not appreciate his amusement at her expense when she got back from…taking care of business.
He chuckled again picturing the look of abject mortification on her face when the tiny, yet extremely loud, voice from the back of the house declared he needed his behind wiped.
Oakley, who barely appeared old enough to be out of high school let alone have a child old enough to be using the toilet on his own, well, mostly on his own, Chris laughed again, was as cute as she could be.
He’d been waiting all morning to catch her back at her house after she’d left earlier so he could deliver the mail that had been placed in his box by mistake. When he first read the name on the envelope, for some reason he’d envisioned a little old lady with painted on eyebrows and a cat, not a twenty-something knock out with a kid.
Since he’d been spying earlier, he’d seen them arrive home and watched out his window as Oakley hurried her little boy, who couldn’t be any older than two or three into the house. He almost turned away when the pair reached the door, but then she’d sent him in only to return to her car. She made one trip with her phone pressed to her ear and then it was awhile before she came back out. He’d been distracted by text messages from his brother, but noticed movement out his window that drew his attention. And boy, was he glad, especially when she ran into her own car in her own driveway because she’d been spying on his house!
He’d chuckled then, too.
And berated himself for being such a peeping Tom, but it had been a long time since a woman had entertained him so thoroughly. Of course, it helped that she was beautiful.
But almost assuredly married.
Chris sighed. He’d looked for a ring when she answered the door. She wasn’t wearing one but that didn’t necessarily mean anything, right? There were a million reasons not to wear rings. Maybe she was allergic to certain metals. Maybe it was out being cleaned or repaired. Or she was doing housework and took it off for awhile.
Either way, he wasn’t going to assume anything one way or the other. That didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate a beautiful woman when he saw one. And Oakley Abbott was gorgeous.
And likely too young for him despite being a mother.
And probably married.
The lucky jerk.
He should probably just leave her mail on the little table beside the door. But he didn’t. Instead, he waited like a puppy hoping for table scraps. Or like a grown man wishing for another glimpse of a pretty girl.
“Who are you?”
Chris startled at the tiny voice, not quite so loud this time, accompanied by a little boy with his mother’s dark hair and olive skin. The child walked right up to him, looking up, up, up at Chris, his dark blue eyes curious.
“I’m Chris. Who are you?” Chris wondered if he should wait for Oakley before introducing himself to her son. He was a stranger to the kid after all.
“My name is Kaden Walker Abbott,” Oakley’s mini-me announced proudly.
“Wow, that’s a great name. Nice to meet you Kaden.” Chris took his eyes off the little boy long enough to search for Oakley. “Where’s your mom?”
Kaden shrugged.
He knew it was a jerk move, but he had to ask. “How about your dad?”
Kaden’s face screwed up. “I don’t have a dad. Just a grandpa. And Uncle Rafe.”
Well, that made him feel like a heel. Gazing down at the cute little boy, Chris realized even though he had nothing to do with the situation, he really was a jerk for hoping there wasn’t a man in Oakley’s life. Because that meant there wasn’t a dad around for Kaden Walker Abbott, and that was too bad.
Oakley rushed back into the front room, drawing his attention away from her son. He
r cheeks were flushed a rather appealing pink.
“I am so sorry about that.” She put one hand on Kaden’s head and reached out to him with the other.
He almost didn’t want to take her small hand in his. Getting to know Oakley, on even the most casual level would be a mistake. He wasn’t really interested in a relationship and a woman like Oakley wouldn’t be interested in anything less. If she was even available. It hadn’t take more than this brief interaction for him to know he was attracted. Attraction could lead to more. He should keep his distance.
“No worries.” He took her hand, anyway, figuring he’d give himself a talking to later. Still, he let it go almost immediately. Those small zaps of electricity he felt served as a warning. He needed to stay far, far away from Oakley Abbott.
“I’m sorry. I can take those.” She reached for the mail he still carried. “Thanks for bringing them over.”
Chris handed off the envelopes careful to avoid her touch. “No problem. Besides, it gave me an excuse to meet my new neighbor.”
Oakley smiled as she went to set the mail in a basket near the kitchen.
Chris could tell he was making her nervous and wondered why? Was it just him? Or was she always like that? He supposed it could just be that she didn’t know him at all and here he was standing in her living room. He should have stayed on the front porch and hurried back to Uncle Ray’s. The last thing he wanted was to make her uneasy.
If Chris was making Oakley uneasy, he was having the exact opposite effect on her son. The boy hadn’t taken his eyes off Chris since spotting him in the living room, his wide eyes missing nothing.
With a quick glance at Kaden’s beautiful mother, Chris crouched, bringing himself closer to the boy’s height. Of course, even sitting on his backside he’d be taller than the little guy, but this was better than towering over him. It had been over a year since his last game, and he’d slimmed down considerably from his playing weight, but his height and build were still intimidating, especially to kids.
“How old are you?” Chris ruffled the kid’s hair unable to resist his cuteness.
Kaden held up three pudgy fingers and Chris raised his brows as if in shock.
“Three? Really? I thought for sure you were at least four.”
Kaden grinned, dimples appearing in both cheeks. “Three, silly.” He pushed his fingers closer to Chris’s face.
Putting his hands up in surrender, Chris said, “Three it is, buddy.” Chris held his fist between them. “Can you pound it?”
Kaden smiled again and pulled back his fist before punching his knuckles to Chris’s with as much force as he could manage.
“Hey, be gentle. Remember.” The little boy looked up to her with a sheepish grin.
“So-rry,” he said with a sing-song voice that didn’t sound apologetic at all. Not that Chris thought the kid had anything to apologize for since he’d encouraged Kaden to ‘pound it’ in the first place.
“Not me. Him.” Oakley pointed to Chris.
Kaden turned bashful, rubbing his face against Oakley’s leg. “Sorry.”
“No worries, bud.” Chris ruffled the kid’s hair again wanting to reassure the boy he hadn’t done anything bad, but he knew better. If there was one thing he’d learned hanging out with guys on the team and their kids, it was to never contradict a parent when they corrected their child.
“I should let you guys get back to your day.” Chris rose to his full height.
Oakley’s eyes flashed with something that looked a little like disappointment.
Nah. That was just wishful thinking on his part.
“Did you buy the house?” she blurted, but Chris was still distracted by her. It was going to take a fire hose to cool the flames in those cheeks of hers and it was plain to see where Kaden had gotten his cuteness.
“I’m sorry?” She made it difficult to focus and he’d been mentally preparing himself to walk out the door without at least asking if she was taken.
She gestured toward his house. “The house. Did you buy it?”
“Oh, uh, no.” Chris scratched the week old scruff on his cheek wondering how much he wanted to share with his pretty neighbor. He decided to just go with the truth. “I inherited it. It belonged to my great-aunt and uncle.”
“I’m sorry, did they pass away recently?” Her brow crinkled with concern. “I never knew anyone who lived in that house. It’s been vacant since I’ve been here.”
“No, no.” He shook his head. “They’ve been gone for a few years now.” Chris missed them, but they’d lived long, full lives. “I, uh, just recently changed jobs and haven’t been in a position to take possession of it until now.”
She didn’t appear to recognize him and he wasn’t about to lay all his cards on the table. It was kind of refreshing to just be Chris, the guy next door, and not Chris Bragg, billionaire professional athlete. Retired professional athlete. He still wasn’t used to the retired part.
Oakley nodded as though she understood, but he was sure she didn’t. In fact, he swore he could see all the questions she wanted to ask swirling in her eyes. He was glad she held back.
“Okay, well, it was nice to meet you both.” Chris made sure his smile encompassed mother and son both.
“You, too.” Oakley’s smile in return was tentative yet genuine. She really was a beautiful woman.
“See ya, buddy,” Chris called to Kaden as he stepped through the door. “Oh, yeah.” He turned back, just remembering he should tell her something. “I’m going to be renovating the house. A complete remodel. I just wanted to let you know in case you begin to wonder about the mess and noise.”
Oakley smiled wryly, casting a glance at Kaden. “Don’t worry. We know all about noise and messes around here.”
Chris chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you do.” He took a second to enjoy the picture they made before turning again to leave. “See ya.”
Oakley nodded and Kaden waved.
As for Chris? He was feeling better and better about the decision to move to suburbia rather than continue crashing in his brother’s penthouse. The view was definitely better from Uncle Ray’s picture window, at least, it was if Oakley was visible through it.
Oh, wow.
He really was in trouble.
Chapter Five
“Sweet marmalade! Have you ever seen a man as good looking as that one?” Cam peered through the half inch crack in the curtains, which were only closed to camouflage the fact they were Chris, who it turned out was even hotter when playing construction worker.
Oakley shook her head. “No. Never.”
“I can’t believe you answered the door with toilet paper in your hand.” Cam turned from the window.
Chris must have gone back inside.
“Would you stop saying that? Please!” Oakley buried her face in a pile of laundry on the couch beside her. She was supposed to be folding it. But Cam hadn’t stopped laughing since Oakley called her, almost the very second Chris walked out the door, and relayed every embarrassing second of their encounter more than a week ago, including running into her car, but hopefully Chris hadn’t seen that.
“Sweetie, it’s just too good to let go. I would pay a month’s income, no, two, to have witnessed the look on both of your faces when Kade screamed from the bathroom.” Cam plopped down on the other side of the mound of laundry.
“It’s a good thing swinging that would require a time-machine and one hasn’t been invented yet.” It was bad enough admitting her humiliation to her friend, Cam actually witnessing it first hand might have killed her.
On top of that, she hadn’t been able to get the incident out of her mind. Her cheeks were going to be permanently stained red from blushing so hard whenever she remembered the way Kaden had shouted from the bathroom. She’d never been so mortified in all her life. Not that she could help it. Kaden was three. He didn’t understand his mother didn’t want the hot tamale from next door knowing she spent her days wiping a three-year-old’s behind. Because that was attra
ctive. Not that she wanted Chris to think she was attractive.
At least, not in theory.
Because there was no way her decidedly female heart could deny a part of her hoped a part of him liked what he saw. But who was she kidding. He’d knocked on her door on a day when she could have easily posed on a billboard ad asking for donations for homeless people.
“Have you seen anyone else over there? Any women? Do you think he’s married?” Cam jumped up and peeked out the window again. Oakley lifted her face from the laundry.
“I have no idea. I haven’t seen anyone but him. He’s been busy, though.” The drive next door held a huge trash container. It had shown up soon after she met her neighbor and Chris had been filling it slowly but surely since then. “He put out a bunch of bathroom fixtures a couple of days ago with a sign that said ‘free’. Every day he puts out something different. People have been driving through the cul-de-sac just to see what he’ll have next.”
Cam shook her head. “I wonder why he doesn’t sell it. He could probably make some money off that stuff. The kind of renovation he’s doing can’t be cheap.”
Oakley shrugged and picked up a pair of Kaden’s shorts to fold and add to the small pile of his clothes she’d made on the coffee table. “Maybe he doesn’t need the money.”
“Everybody needs money. He’s doing all of that work by himself. If he had money, he’d hire some help.”
“Maybe he likes working alone.” Oakley had to admit it was kind of weird.
Cam squealed, running in place in front of the window and waving her arms out to the side like a lunatic. “Oh, my goodness. He took off his shirt. Get over here!”
Oakley scrambled from the couch. “Shhh. Do you want him to hear you?”
Cam waved off her concern, her eyes never wavering from the crack in the curtains. “All your windows are closed, right?”
Except the one in the kitchen, but it faced the backyard. There was no way he could hear them.
Was there?
“Still, you’re going to wake up Kaden. Now, scoot over. You’re hogging the crack.” Oakley elbowed her way in front of the space between the curtains.
Marrying the Football Billionaire Page 3