Page 129 of Denim & Diamonds

I smiled back, though inside I was kicking myself in the ass for what I had on. Linda was dressed in a pair of jeans and a simple navy sweater.Of course she is. I was an idiot for putting on this fancy outfit. I was inMeadowbrookafter all, not a restaurant in Midtown. Great, now I’m overdressedandset our meal on fire.

Elvin fanned the air. “What happened in here? You trying to set the mood with a fire without a fireplace?”

Brock cleared his throat. “I accidentally left the absorbing thingy on the bottom of the roast. It caught fire.”

I generally owned up to my mistakes, but just this once I was going to let Brock take the hit. I looked over at him and mouthedthank you. He winked and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

Meanwhile, Elvin set two big casserole dishes on the counter. “Linda made a couple of apps—taco dip and stuffed mushrooms.”

“The dip needs to bake for twenty minutes at three-fifty,” she said. “But the mushrooms just came out of the oven, so they should be ready to serve.”

“Did someone saystuffed mushrooms?” Trevor walked in the still-open door. He set a big foil-wrapped tray down on the counter and lifted the lid from the one Linda brought. Popping a mushroom into his mouth, he smiled and shut his eyes. “Mmm… When are you going to divorce my dumbass brother and marry me, Lin? You know the way to my heart is through my stomach, and I love these things.”

Elvin rolled his eyes. “Ignore him. He sees a woman with a baking dish and automatically proposes.”

Trevor smirked. “My new lady made stuffed manicotti. She’s Italian and makes a mean Sunday sauce.”

Linda looked to me and put out her hands. “May I?”

It took me a second to realize she was asking to hold Patrick, who was still in my arms. The fact that I’d forgotten I was holding him was a testament to how comfortable I’d grown taking care of a baby over the last two days. “Oh sure. Of course.”

Just as I was about to pass him to Linda, Patrick burped and spit up. It splattered all over my silk blouse. But I just smiled. I was actually relieved to have a reasonto change before anyone else arrived. I wiped his mouth and kissed his little forehead, handing him to Linda as I silently thanked him for helping me out. I pulled a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt from my bag and went into the bathroom to change.

Brock slipped in with me and closed the door behind him. “I came to see if you were good.” His eyes dropped to my lacy bra, and he grinned. “But nowI’mfeeling pretty damn good.”

I smiled. “I’m okay.”

“I hope Patrick didn’t ruin your blouse.”

“I couldn’t care less.”

Brock studied me a moment. “You mean that, don’t you?”

“Of course.” I pulled off my leather skirt and yanked on the comfy jeans. “I was happy for an excuse to change. Why didn’t you tell me how overdressed I was?”

He shrugged. “I was too busy taking in how beautiful you looked.”

“I want to fit in, not stand out.”

“Sweetheart, you could wear a potato sack and you’d stand out in any room.” He cupped my cheeks and tilted my head up so our eyes met. “You’re different than a lot of the folks around here, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of. You stand out in all the best ways.”

My insides melted. “For a man of few words, sometimes you know the right thing to say, Brock Hawkins.”

He kissed my forehead. “Come on, let’s get this dinner over with so I can have you all to myself again.”

That evening, I learned a thing or two about the Hawkins men. For one, they could really eat. Notonly did they devour half-a-dozen dishes that people brought, they also polished off four pizzas, three bags of chips, two containers of dip, and two cases of beer. Patrick, for his part, had been in good spirits all night, considering he’d been passed around from person to person. Only in the last fifteen minutes had he started to get fussy. Linda tried rocking him, but that didn’t help. Brock changed his diaper and attempted to give him a bottle, but nothing seemed to console him.

“Would you mind holding him for a minute?” Brock asked. “I left his yellow blanket in the car. Maybe he wants that. He sometimes grips it in his little fist while he sleeps.”

“Of course. Go ahead.”

Brock passed me the baby, but before he could finish pulling on his flannel, Patrick miraculously stopped crying.

Linda smiled. “Looks like he didn’t want food or a blanket after all. He just wanted a certain someone.”

This little guy was doing me all kinds of favors today. I looked down at his sweet little face. “Must be beginner’s luck.”

“Or you have the magic touch.” Linda glanced over at Brock, who was currently looking at me with a face I couldn’t put my finger on, yet I liked the way it made me feel inside. “Withboththese Hawkins boys.”

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