by Kira Archer
“Oh, no.” He laughed.
“Yeah. I ended up with fifty cracked mugs that weren’t good for much more than pencil holders. I sold a few at a craft fair…but not nearly enough to actually make a profit. Heck, even if they’d turned out great, I’d have had to make thousands of them to turn a profit. Not something I really had the time or resources to get going.”
Before Elliot could say anything else, Tyler knocked over his water glass.
“Oh, Tyler! Shoot!” Lena jumped up before the water could trail down the table onto her lap.
Elliot slapped his napkin over the puddle and helped her get it mopped up. The waiter came over with more napkins, and in short order they had everything clean and dry. Elliot leaned over to draw her into conversation again, but Cherice got to her first. He thought about catching his sister’s eye to give her the “go away” look, but wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. Lena wasn’t some random chick. She was Oz’s sister, his own sister’s soon to be in-law. He doubted Cherice would approve.
Then he caught the words “salon,” “dress,” and “nails” and sat back, any thought of butting-in gone. It sounded like they were talking shop for the wedding. There was no way he was going to attempt to interrupt a bride trying to iron out her wedding details. He’d seen Bridezillas. People had been stabbed for less.
He turned back to Tyler in time to see the boy wad up a piece of napkin in his mouth and attempt to spit it through a straw. His face turned bright red but nothing came out the other end.
Elliot nudged him and picked up his own straw. “Watch,” he said, ripping off a piece of napkin. He rolled it between his fingers. “It has to be small enough to fit through the straw. See?”
Then he popped it into his mouth and chewed until it was nice and juicy. “See that coconut up there?”
Tyler nodded, eyes huge with excitement. Elliot grabbed his straw and aimed at the fake tree next to their table. He took a deep breath and let it fly. The spitball splattered onto the coconut and stuck.
“Awesome!” Tyler cheered.
Cher and Lena looked over to see what the excitement was about. Lena’s eyes narrowed. “Tyler Oserkowsi—”
Before she could really get into the scolding, Tyler piped up. “He did it!”
Elliot flushed. “Way to rat me out, kid.”
Tyler shrugged.
Lena looked at him, her mouth opening and closing like she couldn’t figure out what to say. Cher had no such problem.
“Seriously, Elliot? We’re in a restaurant. And Tyler is watching everything you do. Don’t teach him stuff like that.”
“Sorry,” Elliot muttered, though he glanced over at Tyler and gave him a quick wink.
Lena shook her head like she wasn’t sure what to make of him and turned back to her conversation with Cher.
Tyler leaned over and whispered, “Hey, Elliot. Can I have your cookie?”
Elliot blinked down at the boy, not sure what he was talking about until he realized their dessert, some sort of sorbet with gourmet cookies sticking out of the dish, had been served. Damn. Dessert was his favorite course and not only had he not noticed it sitting there, but he had no real desire to eat it.
“Sure thing, little man. Here you go,” he said, handing the little boy both his cookies.
“Yay, thanks!”
He started cramming them into his mouth as fast as he could. Elliot laughed. The kid looked like a little chipmunk with his cheeks bulging and crumbs spraying down his shirt.
“Tyler! No!”
Elliot blinked in surprise. Lena grabbed a napkin and held it under her son’s chin. “Spit it out.”
Elliot expected Tyler to argue, but he just stuck his tongue out, allowing all the crumbling goodness inside to spill out into his mother’s hand.
“You’ve already had your dessert and half of mine. You eat anymore, and you’re going to be up all night with a stomachache. Where did you get those cookies?”
Tyler pointed at Elliot. Lena turned to him with an exasperated sigh.
“Sorry,” Elliot said with a sheepish grin.
At the rate he was going, he didn’t need to worry about getting too close to the kid because Lena was never going to let him within two feet of Tyler again. The boy was already wired and slightly green around the gills from all the crap Elliot had let him eat. And here he was handing him more junk. “He asked.”
“I know, but you can’t always give kids everything they ask for,” she said, her reproach softened somewhat with a distracted smile. “He tends to gorge himself on any sugar source within a ten mile radius, but it doesn’t sit well with him. Last time I let him eat too many cookies he puked all night. And with all the junk he ate earlier…” She trailed off and Elliot wondered if his face looked as guilty as he felt.
“Oh, wow. Sorry. Won’t happen again.”
Lena smiled again, but it wasn’t an oh-he’s-so-sweet smile, it was… It took Elliot a second to recognize it. It was the same smile his nanny had given him when he was growing up and had done something she disapproved of, for reasons he didn’t understand. It was the mother look! Here he was, trying to impress her with his studliness, and she was looking at him like he was a misbehaving toddler. It was most definitely not the look a woman gave a man she was interested in.
New tactic. She’d appreciated his help earlier. He could be her knight in shining armor for the rest of the trip. After all, they were kind of stuck together for the week because of all the wedding stuff. Might as well be useful and possibly rack up a few brownie points while he was at it.
“So, have you spoken with your friend?” he asked. “Is she going to be able to make it?”
Lena’s face fell. “I don’t know. When I spoke with her earlier, the plane was stuck on the tarmac. She was supposed to text me when they finally took off, but that was a couple hours ago, and I still haven’t heard from her. And when I checked the weather back there, it was getting worse, so it’s not looking good. I’ll call her in a bit and see what’s going on.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. Well, if you need any help with Tyler, I’d be more than happy to lend a hand.”
She looked over Tyler’s head at him and gave him a distracted nod. “Oh. Thanks, Elliot. That’s very nice of you, but I think we’ll be okay.”
“Really, it’d be no trouble. Tyler and I had a great time this afternoon. I’d love to hang out some more. Maybe this time you could even hang out with us,” he said, leaning forward and lowering his voice a notch.
He was finally rewarded with a faint blush, but she quickly looked down at her plate.
“We could go to the pool again, or the beach.”
When she looked up in alarm, he hurried to assure her. “You wouldn’t even have to get near the water. I could take Tyler for a swim, and you could soak up the rays on the beach.”
“I’m not sure that’s a great idea. Today was sort of a disaster. I don’t want a repeat of that.” She laughed, an embarrassed little giggle of a sound that wormed its way into his heart and took up residence.
“Well, this time I’d be there to protect you.” He sent a little wink her way, and she blushed again but still shook her head.
“That’s nice of you, really, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Elliot caught sight of his sister’s disapproving face at the head of the table and wrinkled his nose at her. She didn’t approve of him hitting on her soon-to-be sister-in-law, he was sure, but he would have to reassure her later that he intended to be nothing but the perfect gentleman. He wanted to get to know Lena better. He wouldn’t even mind spending some more time with Tyler. The kid was hilarious.
“It’s no trouble, really. I’d love to hang out with you guys.”
She was gearing up for another rejection, so he beat her to the punch. “If you’d rather not be near the water, there’s lots of other stuff we can do.”
“Can we play more video games?” Tyler asked, bouncing in his chair.
“Abs
olut—” Elliot almost agreed but glanced up at Lena in time.
“You’ve played enough video games for this trip, munchkin,” she said. “There’s too much other stuff to do than wasting your time playing video games.”
She glanced up at him, her eyes wide and startled like she just realized he might take what she said as an insult. And he did. She was making it abundantly clear that she thought he was an immature screw-up who had no business being around her kid. And she was right. He generally was an immature screw-up, but it had never bothered him. Until that moment.
He didn’t like that she didn’t find him responsible enough to watch her son. Though, he honestly couldn’t blame her. Remembering the scene she’d walked in on when she’d woken up made him want to squirm like he used to when he’d been Tyler’s age and had gotten into stuff he shouldn’t. Shit, he’d had the kid neck deep in junk food with a video game controller in one hand and a soda in the other. He should have known better. His only saving grace was that he’d at least chosen a semi-appropriate game and hadn’t let the kid play something full of violent blood and gore. See? He wasn’t totally clueless.
“No worries, little man,” Elliot said, ruffling the kid’s hair. “We’ll find something fun to do that Mommy will say yes to.”
He winked at her over the top of Tyler’s head. Her eyes narrowed in the classic mom glare, but those full, kissable lips of hers were smiling.
Now all he had to do was prove to her that he could be a responsible caretaker. Piece of cake.
Lena lounged back on the couch in her hotel room, surfing through the channels while Tyler snoozed in the bed nearby. The Goo Goo Doll’s “Iris” rang from her phone, and Lena grabbed it from her pocket.
“Iris? Where are you? What’s going on?”
Her friend groaned. “Still stuck in the damn airport.”
“You’re kidding? That’s insane!”
“Tell me about it. First, the flight was delayed. Then when we finally got onto the damn plane, we sat on the tarmac for three hours. Three hours in that little tin can. I was about ready to chew my way out before they finally pulled back into the gate and let us off. Now we’re just sitting here.”
“Do they know when you’ll get to leave?”
“They said nine tomorrow morning is the earliest flight I can get out. The snow is coming down so hard you can’t even see out the window.”
“Oh my God, that sucks.”
“You have no idea. You should see this place. There are bodies littered everywhere. The airlines have cots and stuff set up in case people want to sleep.”
“You’re kidding? What happened to getting you a hotel room?”
“Apparently they can’t afford to set up dozens of flights’ worth of passengers in cheap motels. So it looks like I’m stuck here unless I want to go get my own hotel. I’ll probably try, but I’m not sure how much transportation is running right now.”
“Wonderful,” Lena groaned.
“Hey, what are you grumbling for? I’m the one stuck in this frozen pit. You’re the lucky shit who’s lying on a beach in the tropics.”
Lena snorted and Iris laughed. “Okay, so maybe not.”
“Well, I did actually take Tyler to the pool today.”
“You did not! Good for you.”
“Yeah, don’t be all proud of me yet. I had a total panic attack when I couldn’t get him out of the pool and I fainted.”
“Oh my God.” Iris laughed. “I’m not laughing,” she said, laughing harder. “But oh my God.”
“Yeah. It was fantastic. Fell right into the arms of my brother’s new brother-in-law.”
“Oooh. Well that sounds interesting, at least. Is he gorgeous, or did Cher get all the looks in the family?”
Lena’s stomach did a queer little flip-flop. “Oh, the family is definitely blessed, that’s for sure. Looks-wise at least.”
“Hmm, what does that mean?”
Lena sighed. “Nothing. Elliot is perfectly charming. He was great with Tyler. Obviously knows nothing at all about kids. But they had fun playing together.”
Iris laughed. “Ah. Total man-child, eh?”
“Completely.”
“Well, no law saying you can’t have fun with the guy while you’re out there.”
“Iris!”
“What? Someone’s gotta have fun. It sure as hell won’t be me.”
“Ugh. I’m sorry you’re stuck there.”
“Me, too. So much for helping you out. Hopefully, I can get out of here tomorrow so I can actually keep Tyler out of your hair.”
“I feel so bad,” Lena said, rubbing her forehead. “They have these amazing pools and mini-water parks. He wants to play in them so bad. I just can’t…Elliot offered but…”
“Well, hell woman! If Mr. Stud Man is offering, why not take him up on it?”
“First of all, I’m not sure I trust Tyler with him. Elliot is sweet and all, but he is completely clueless about kids. He’d be letting him swim in the deep end and go down the scary water tubes. And I’m sure sunscreen would never even occur to him.”
“Oh my God, he sounds like a monster. Someone call the cops.”
“Oh, shut up,” Lena said, though she couldn’t keep the grin from spreading over her face. Yeah, she knew she was a little overprotective. But even if she wasn’t, Elliot was hardly someone who was even remotely qualified to be a babysitter.
“Besides, you know how Tyler gets. He’s already talking about Elliot constantly, and he only spent an hour with him. He gets attached to men so easily.”
“Yeah, I know. Well, with any luck this damn snow will let up and I can be on my way. I am so ready for a little tropical relaxation.”
“I bet. I hope you get out of there soon.”
“Yeah, me, too—wait a minute. Well, hello there…”
“What?”
“Things might be looking up,” Iris said, her voice sounding like she had her mouth pressed to the phone, trying to be quiet.
“Why’s that?”
“There was this totally hot cowboy on the plane sitting behind me. We tried to talk, but it was hard not being in the same row.”
“Okay…”
“He just sat down across from me. And he looks even better up close than he did crammed into those little airplane seats. I can see a whole lot more of him now. Hat, boots, and incredibly tight jeans that are leaving very little to my imagination, if you know what I mean.”
“I can guess.”
“I think I’m going to go make friends.”
Lena laughed. She wished she could be as outgoing and adventurous as Iris. “Don’t have too much fun.”
“Hell, I might be stuck in this airport for the rest of the night. A girl’s gotta keep herself entertained somehow. If you were smart, you’d find yourself a little entertainment, too.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Seriously, babe. Not every relationship has to go somewhere. You can have some fun. You’re in a tropical paradise. Take Tyler to the hotel day care and go have yourself a good time. You’ll feel a 1,000 percent better.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You do that. Call me later.”
“I will,” Lena said.
Iris was saying hi to her cowboy before she’d even ended the call.
Lena put the phone onto the table, her mind turning over what Iris had said. The memory of Elliot’s rock solid body rising out of the pool, water streaming over the lines of his muscles, made her belly tighten and heat up in places she usually tried very hard to ignore. It had been a very, very long time since she’d “had a good time” as Iris had put it, with any man.
She’d tried dating a few times, but she hadn’t found anyone worth spending what little free time she had. And with Tyler’s tendency to latch on to any friendly male face, Lena was incredibly careful who she introduced him to. There had only been one boyfriend, actually, that Lena had thought might make the cut. And when it hadn’t worked out, Tyler
had been more crushed than she had. There was no way she’d let that happen again.
Sure, she could probably have a harmless hookup. But… Well, she’d never done that before and didn’t even know how to go about it. Having a good time wasn’t as easy as Iris made it seem. Especially when the man in question was going to be her brother’s brother-in-law. Which meant they’d probably see each other now and then. Which meant awkward. Which meant absolutely no hookup. Which really kind of sucked. Elliot, with his laughing eyes, absolutely gorgeous body, and fun, carefree attitude, would have been perfect.
Too dangerous, though. A girl could get addicted to a guy like Elliot. And even if her circumstances were different, Elliot didn’t seem the type to be into long term, monogamous relationships, with a single mom, no less. Which meant he was off-limits.
Damn it.
Chapter Four
Elliot fumed, but arguing with his parents wasn’t going to make the situation better. He’d pulled them aside to talk to them about his goal of doubling the funds he brought in for the charity. And while they were on board with that, it hadn’t been enough to really impress them and prove that he was capable of running the children’s charity on his own.
His mother stood to leave first. “I’m happy to see you making some sort of effort, Elliot. And increased funds would, of course, be welcomed.”
“But it’s going to take more than that to prove to us you’re serious about your role in this charity,” his father added. “I agree with your mother that this renewed interest from you is a good thing. But you’ll have to forgive us if we don’t put much faith in how long it will last.”
Elliot bit his tongue again. That was the crux of it right there. He couldn’t argue. He hadn’t ever shown much interest in truly running the charity and the few times he had hadn’t lasted long. So how in the hell was he supposed to convince them he meant it now?
His mother patted his cheek as she walked by. His father stopped in front of him, sizing him up. “The last thing I want to do is discourage you from finally stepping up. But this charity is too important to let you continue to ignore your responsibility. If you can come up with an idea, something concrete, I’ll think about it. But for now…”