Page 80 of Merritt and Her Childhood Crush
“Let’s get you inside. Be right back,” he tells me, then turns and Isabelle climbs onto his back. She yawns and her head droops onto his shoulder. “Izzy, can you say goodbye?”
She cracks open sleepy eyes. “Bye, Merritt. Thanks for playing with me. And don’t go easy on my dad. But I hope you say yes.”
Hunter groans as I step closer and lift the blanket, draping it over Isabelle. I smooth it out, patting her back a few times in a gesture I hope feels motherly. “No promises,” I say, echoing her words from earlier while biting back a smile.
Hunter pins me with a look that does not feel like the kind he should be giving me with a kid on his back. “Don’t move.”
Yes, sir. Whatever you say, Bossy Hunter.
The dogs stay with me, shifting closer to take up the space Hunter left. I scratch Vroom and Sunbeam at the same time, listening to the low rumble of Hunter’s voice through the screen door. Banjo wanders through the yard, digging around the dirt, sniffing everything.
Voices carry from inside, and if I were a better person, maybe I wouldn’t be straining to listen.
“What did we say about meddling?” Hunter asks.
“That it’s an act of love?” Izzy’s voice is hopeful.
He harrumphs and says something too low for me to hear. Then: “Maybe now you can lay off the dating profiles for a while, yeah?”
I don’t hear her response, only the low murmur of her voice. But then she says something a little louder. “Are you going to kiss her goodbye? You should kiss her goodbye.”
Idefinitelyagree about the kissing.
Vroom seems to agree as well, as he’s wagging his butt cart with unbridled enthusiasm.
“Are you all in on this?” I ask him. “Playing matchmaker?”
Vroom wiggles even harder and Sunbeam thumps her tail on the porch. Yep. They’re definitely in on it. Thing is—I don’t even need any nudges. I’m all in all on my own.
When Hunter returns, I stand to meet him.
“I’ve gotten strict instructions to make sure I kiss you goodbye,” he says, his brown eyes sparkling.
“I heartily approve the suggestion,” I say, and he moves in, slipping a hand around my waist as he pushes me back against the porch railing.
“Is this going to hold me?” I ask.
He snorts. “I built it. Yes. It’ll hold.”
“Hm. I see where Isabelle gets her humility.”
This earns me a kiss, one that steals my breath and my ability to stand on steady legs. But I’ve got Hunter’s hands on my hips and the railing he built behind me.
I lift my hands to his chest, pressing my palms flat against his t-shirt, momentarily distracted by the feel of all that solid muscle.Wait.
“Hunter, are you flexing right now?”
“I thought maybe you wanted me too. You’re rubbing my chest like I’m a magic lamp and you’re hoping for a genie.”
I drop my hands like he’s on fire, but he catches them and lifts them back, pressing them to his chest and holding them in place with his own as he chuckles. “I didn’t say I minded. But don’t get too excited. I’ve got a dad bod now.”
I roll my eyes. I don’t buy that for a single second. “Right. Absolutely. This feels very Dad-bod-like. And when you picked me up on the beach the day I hurt my ankle, youdefinitelyseemed like you were struggling to carry me.”
“You were checking out my butt, weren’t you?”
“No!” I attempt a horrified face, but he only laughs. “Fine. But it wasright there!”
“Mm-hm. Well, as far as I’m concerned, you can check me out all you want.” He flexes again, his muscles jumping underneath my palms.
