Page 8 of Hello Tease

“Try again,” I told her, glancing around to see if anyone else’s ears were ringing. There were already several cars parked along the street and in the driveway, and I had to wonder: How big was his family?

Emily looked up at me. “Can Ipleasering the doorbell?”

“Sure,” I said, taking a deep breath to ease my nerves.

She reached out, pressing the button, and we heard the bell muffled from inside the house. She jumped up and down as if she could possibly reach the decorative window at the top of the door. I smiled at her excitement.

The front door opened, and Knox stood there, grinning at us. Instead of his police uniform, he had on a heather-blue T-shirt that hugged his muscular arms and drew out the blue in his eyes. I almost didn’t notice the jeans he wore, which fit him just right—not too tight or loose.

“It’s great to see y’all,” he said with a smile. “Come on in.”

We followed him into the house, all of us looking around curiously. And again, I was pleasantly surprised. The home opened up to a dining room and kitchen. The counters and table were loaded with pans of food. Then we walked through the house, seeing nice leather couches in the living room, a basket full of throw blankets, and a TV mounted above a gas fireplace.

“Everyone’s out back,” Knox explained. “You can follow me.”

We did, my eyes inadvertently glancing to his backside. Damn. I needed to stop checking out my neighbor. That could get messy real fast.

But then again, my mom always used to say the phrase “look don’t touch” applied to more than store items.

There was a hallway to what I assumed were bedrooms and then a utility room with a washer and dryer, a rack of coats, sporting equipment of all kinds, and a table.

Knox tapped on a door in the corner of the utility room. “This is a bathroom you can use.” Then we followed him through the screened back door. The smell of the grill filled my nostrils as we stepped onto the shaded cement patio.

I could see all the people in his backyard that came with the vehicles parked out front. All fifteen or so of them looked at us as we stepped outside. I wondered what Knox had told them about us—if he’d said much of anything at all.

Knox put his hand on Emily’s shoulder, saying, “I want you to meet my nieces.” He led her to a small sandbox shaped like a turtle off to the side, and I followed along, feeling eyes on me as I went.

A girl who seemed around ten with long, caramel-colored hair played with a younger girl around two. Next to them, a fluffy dog that looked to be part Australian Shepherd watched dutifully.

“This is my niece, Maya.” Knox gestured to the older girl. “And this is Leah.” He tickled the stomach of the little girl with dark brown pigtails. “And this is their dog, Graham. Girls, this is Emily. I’m sure you’ll be great friends.”

Maya smiled and said, “Wanna play with us? We’re building sandcastles.”

Emily gave me a questioning look, and when I nodded, she set the football down and got into the sandbox with the other two.

“Do you like the Diamonds?” Emily asked Maya.

“Yeah. My uncle’s the quarterback.” She said it so matter of factly, I almost believed her.

“No way,” Emily said.

“Yeah,” Maya replied. “He’s right over there.”

All of us spun our heads in absolute shock where Ford Madigan was standing, drinking beer with a couple people I didn’t recognize. Emily jumped out of the sandbox, sprinting over to him and yelling, “HI, FORD!”

“Oh my gosh,” I muttered, following her, Jackson fussing in my arms at the change in pace. “Sorry,” I said over my shoulder to Knox.

If he replied, I didn’t hear him. No, I heard the star quarterback for Texas’s pro football team, saying, “Nice to meet you, Emily.”

5

KNOX

So I might havethe hots for my neighbor.

And Imayhave made up an entire event to get to know her better.

Inviting over my pro-football-playing brother was just the cherry on top. But now that he was here, I realized it could have been an amazing or a horrible idea, depending on how this went. Either she was impressed by my cool family, or he fell in love with her instantly and swept her away to his mansion in Dallas. And with how beautiful Larkin was, there was a good chance he’d be enamored with her too.

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