Page 29 of Daddy's Little Librarian
The way she was smiling, however, as he shuffled over to stand at her table, helped to kill his irritation. When she grinned, he had to fight to keep his glower. “I thought I told you to stay put and stay quiet.”
“You did. But you just looked so cute out there, I couldn’t help myself. Come on, do the pirate dance for me.”
“I think I’d rather give you a good old-fashioned birthday spanking instead.”
“The Birthday Boson doesn’t give spankings,” Captain Tommy interrupted, wheeling out the birthday cannon and pointing it straight into the air over her table. Everyone in the surrounding booths quickly moved so as not to get confetti and glitter in their food. “He sings and dances and smiles. You know, the pink tights look good on you. I think I’m going to make that a standard part of the uniform.”
Kurt closed his eyes in a grimace that was just slightly longer than a blink, and then opened them again.
“I know,” she smiled, and held up her finger. “That’s one.”
“Damn straight,” he grumbled and pulled out his harmonica to begin the song anew.
The kids cheered when he was done. So did Scotti. She also threw out her arms, twirling with all the other four-year-olds as Captain Tommy shot the cannon and glitter and confetti rained gently down on her upturned face. She sat for the rest of his shift in a booth in Mermaid Lagoon, with bits of sparkle and multi-colored paper in her hair, on her clothes, and scattered all over her table and booth, swinging her feet under the table, coloring on the tablecloth and humming the birthday song under her breath.
It was all he could do not to bend over and press a kiss to her forehead each time he had to go out and bus a table after a departing customer.
A guy could fall in love with that so easily.
Not him, he mentally corrected himself. Of course not, but… someone with their life a bit more stable and together could.
Easily.
Jaw clenching twice, Kurt bussed his tables and quietly envied that faceless, unknown someone.
Chapter Eleven
“Yo ho ho, I’m four-years-old,” Scotti sang, hopping out of the car now that she’d parked it in her driveway, taking her purse and the four paper tablecloths she’d completely colored in during his six-hour shift at Pirate Pete’s with her. “Yo ho ho, and I’m getting to be a grown-up little matey.”
Fighting back a smile, Kurt shook his head and climbed out of the car now too. She played hopscotch up her walkway cobblestones, already fishing her keys out of her purse.
“How old are you really?” he asked, trailing her to the door.
“Twenty-six,” she said between puffs as she hopscotched up her three porch steps. When she reached the very top one, with an extra big hop, she spun around to flash him a grin, and in an instant became full-adult Scotti Moore as she walked up to her front door to unlock it.
Fully adult Scotti still had glitter in her hair and specks of confetti stuck to her clothes.
“And the Little side of you?” he asked, already missing her.
Shrugging one shoulder, Scotti pushed open the door and then stepped back so he could enter first. “I don’t know, five or six, maybe. I never really pinned her down.”
Traffic on the expressway home had been horrible. It took almost an hour to drive what would otherwise have only lasted twenty minutes. But they were home now, and the sun was down. All up and down her quiet suburban street, the streetlights were flicking on, doing limited battle with the growing darkness.
Her porch was almost completely bathed in shadows and they hadn’t left any lights on inside. He made a mental note to keep the porch lit from here on out and took the lead inside. Listening for telltale signs of an intruder, he flicked on the entryway light and listened. The house remained quiet.
“What kind of Littles do you like to have?” she asked as he motioned her to come inside.
“All kinds.” Closing and locking the door, he put his fingers to his lips and motioned for her to stay put. Room by room, flicking on lights and checking every window, closet and exterior door as he went, he checked to make sure they had no unwelcome vermin hiding in the shadows. Only when he was sure she was safe, did he turn the extra lights back off again and return to her at the front door. “Okay,” he said, “Let’s get you into pajamas, and then we’ll have a quick supper before bed.”
She hopped up the stairs. Literally. One step at a time, her hands on the safety railing, hopped.
“Someone had too much birthday cake,” he mused, following slowly along behind her.
“I like Captain Tommy,” she replied, and walked the rest of the way down the hall to the bathroom. “He’s nice.”
Captain Tommy was a kid, his boss and nobody that Kurt needed to instantly despise with every fiber of his being, like he suddenly found himself doing. “He gave you three pieces of cake and blew his cannon all over you twice,” Kurt said, heading past her down the hall to fetch her bunny pajamas from the bedroom. “Of course, you like him.”
“You didn’t give me any cake or blow the cannon on me once, and I still like you,” she pointed out. A few seconds later, she stuck her head out the bathroom door and called, slightly embarrassed down the hallway behind him, “That came out wrong.”
