Page 38 of Whiskey Wednesdays

“She’s not a princess, Daddy. She’s bad!” Elodie squealed.

Connor grinned and glanced at me. “I like the difficult ones. What can I say?”

I rolled my eyes. “Ellie, you’ll have to watchallthe princess movies with your dad so he can pick a favorite.”

“Okay, we can start tomorrow.”

Connor winced. “I appreciate you suggesting that.”

“You’re welcome.”

Elodie looked at me hopefully. “We’re going swimming tomorrow. Do you guys wanna come?”

Dad shook his head. “I’m going golfing tomorrow, but Isa might go with you. She’s sleeping over this weekend and she doesn’t have anything else to do.”

I squinted at him then turned to Elodie. “I didn’t bring my swimsuit. Sorry.”

Connor eyed me speculatively. “I have some extra ones in the pool house.”

“I’m sure you and Elodie don’t want me to intrude on your weekend time.”

Elodie nodded vigorously. “Yes we do, don’t we?”

“Yep. We do,” Connor agreed.

“Come with us, Belly.”

Damn it, I couldn’t say no to her when she looked at me with those big, brown eyes. “Okay. Thanks for inviting me.”

She flashed me a smile. “Will you eat lunch with us too?”

For some reason, she was always inviting me to eat lunch. I glanced at Connor.

He grinned, picking up on my discomfort. “Yes, come eat lunch.”

So a little after twelve the next afternoon, I knocked on Connor’s front door with a container of lemon cookies my dad had made that morning. There were several citrus trees on the property, and Dad enjoyed harvesting the fruit. The house smelled like lemon and vanilla when I’d gotten up that morning.

Elodie answered the door wearing a little red polka dot swimsuit, blue arm floaties, and oversized swim goggles. Her goggles slid down her face as she grinned up at me.

I tried not to laugh. “Cute swimsuit. Dad sent over some lemon cookies, and he reminded me to make sure you put on sunscreen.”

I held up the container as she grabbed my other hand and walked me into the oversized living room. Connor came in from the kitchen. He had on black swim trunks but no shirt. His upper body was sculpted and toned, and he had a few nicks and scars.

He also had a detailed, black and red tattoo across his left pectoral of a skull with red maple leaves as eyes, and crossed hockey sticks behind it. Elodie’s name had been added under his left pec. It was a stunning tattoo, and his chest was hard and chiseled. I swallowed and tried to keep my eyes on his face, and failed.

“Hey.” He grinned at me as he watched me study his tattoo. Then he looked down at my legs.

I’d thrown on some white shorts and a red pullover. His gaze seemed to heat my skin.

He pointed to us. “You two match.”

Elodie looked us over. “We do!” Will you take our picture?”

She was only five, and already wanted photos of everything. I could only imagine what she’d be like as a teenager and she discovered social media.

Connor smiled. “Sure. Stand next to each other over there.” He pointed to the bank of windows behind us and took out his phone.

Elodie grabbed my hand and pulled me over. I felt awkward, but let her drag me to stand in front of one of the large windows. There were flowerpots and palm trees behind us. It did make a nice backdrop.

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