Page 45 of Moonstruck Kiss

Her chest heaves. “My fellow judges were going to stay behind and help, but I can tell them there’s no need.”

My head bobs up and down in sincere agreement. “We don’t need anyone else.”

“But, um, Emory hasn’t gotten us the… item… yet.”

“Trust me,” I say in a low voice, “I don’t need it to get the job done.”

Joey flushes to the roots of her hair. “If you say so,” she breathes.

It’s like our eyes want to be glued to each other because I don’t look away and she doesn’t look away. If we’re serious about keeping our fling a secret, we’re not doing a very good job of it.

Fortunately, her phone rings, breaking the spell.

I wink at her before going back to Ollie and Marina.

“Thank you again,” Marina says, waving goodbye. “I’ll be in touch to let you know how we go with this painting.”

“Thanks,” I answer before turning to Ollie. “I’m going to drop you off at Grandpa and Grandma, okay? I need to help Joey clean up here.”

“Okay. I wanna show my paintings to them and Auntie Liss.”

“Do you really want to come back next week? You can paint in our cabin or at the lodge. You don’t need to be here.”

Ollie glowers. “But it’s Art Fun Day here. Other painters are here, and people come and watch us.”

“You like people watch you paint?”

“Yes. And I like the judges teaching me and telling me I’m good.”

I ruffle his hair, more determined to find the best art teacher for him in Manhattan. “As long as you’re enjoying yourself, you can join again next week.”

“If you buy me a cheese-on-a-stick again, I’ll have more fun,” he says with a goofy smile.

“If you eat more vegetables from tonight till next Sunday, you can even have an ice cream cone with it next week.”

Ollie thinks for a while. “Okay.”

“Deal!”

“Yay!”

Hah! That was an easy negotiation. I'm really getting the hang of this fatherhood thing. And, I have to say, I’m pretty proud of myself.

But Ollie being Ollie has a lot to do with it. He’s just a truly amazing kid. Sometimes, I still can’t believe he’s mine.

I hear a loud sigh behind me.

“Hey,” I say to Joey. “Everything okay?”

She makes a face. “Change of plans. Cutie, Maggie and a couple of others are going to do the cleaning up tomorrow. They’re giving us a break because we did everything ourselves yesterday. And this evening, our families have decided to have dinner together at Struck and Stuck. They’re expecting us and Ollie to join them.”

“That’s a surprise. What’s the occasion?”

“Nothing. Just a spontaneous get-together as business partners, which they do often.”

“Do we have to go?”

“Yes,” Joey says definitively.

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