Page 6 of Keeping it Casual
“Good. It’s all good.” I nod to emphasize my words but stop when I realize I probably look like one of those dog car ornaments. “This is my daughter, Lucy.”
Dustin gives Lucy a bright smile. “Ah, Lucy, the maker of the muffins. Thank you so much for those. Lachie here practically inhaled them.” He nods to his son.
Lucy gives Dustin a wide grin back. Shy is definitely one thing my daughter isn’t.
“You’re very welcome,” she says. “Can we play soccer with you?”
I blink at her. “I thought you wanted to go to the playground?”
“Soccer’s more fun.”
“You can’t just invite yourselves into someone else’s game, Lucy.” I give a half-laugh to illustrate to Dustin and Lachie that at leastI’maware of social conventions, even if my daughter is currently overstepping them.
“You’re welcome to join us,” Dustin says. He shoots a glance at Lachie. “Are you up for some two-on-two?”
Lachie shrugs, his face neutral. Dustin seems to take that as agreement.
He looks at me. “Kings against Knights?”
“It sounds like some kind of medieval fantasy novel,” I say. “Or maybe an epic chess battle.”
Dustin chuckles, and a warm flush spreads through me.
“Our team needs a larger goal to make up for the fact I’m the littlest,” Lucy says.
“That seems fair enough,” Dustin replies, and Lucy goes over to stand next to him so they can discuss goal sizes. Dustin patiently listening to Lucy’s monologue is so cute that I have to look away.
I hide my smirk when I realize Lucy has negotiated a goal twice the size of Dustin and Lachie’s. Lucy might be little, but she’s quick and ferocious on the sports field. And she has absolutely no fear.
Which Lachie and Dustin quickly find out. As soon as Lachie kicks the ball to Dustin, Lucy’s in there, expertly tackling Dustin. She removes the ball from his possession, dribbles it up the field, and just as Lachie’s about to tackle her, she sends an excellent cross pass to me.
My job is to simply slot it through the extremely wide goal.
Dustin turns to me with wide eyes. “Are you two some kind of soccer hustlers?”
“Absolutely. I’ve been training her since birth. It’s my plan for my retirement fund. But damn, we forgot to play for money.”
“That’s an amateur mistake,” he says.
I flash him a grin. “I really need to work on it. I’m also teaching her pool and poker as backups.”
Man, does Dustin look good when he laughs. The way his lips tilt up and his smile lines crease around his gorgeous hazel eyes.
But Dustin doesn’t just look good, he also feels good. Something I discover when we start again and I tackle him, ourchests colliding. Even that small contact sends heat zipping through me. He smells of earth and sunshine and man.
“I thought soccer is supposed to be a non-contact sport,” he says as he draws back.
“Says no one who has ever played soccer properly,” I reply, loving it when he lets out another deep chuckle.
Lachie gets slightly more competitive as the game progresses and begins tackling Lucy. At one stage, he and Lucy end up in a tangle on the ground.
I move forward to check she’s okay but stop when I hear both of them laughing, Lucy’s giggles intertwining with Lachie’s deeper chuckles.
Dustin throws me a grin as he bends over like he’s trying to catch his breath. Hmm. Seeing Dustin huffing and puffing in close range isn’t exactly what I need to tamp down my attraction to him. Because I can’t help thinking about other aerobic activities we could do together to get him breathing similarly.
We play for another ten minutes, and the score is seven-two to Lucy and me when I sense Lucy’s waning interest.
“Can I go to the playground now?” she asks after slotting in another easy goal.
