Page 12 of Whispers at Seaside
Hagen jumped to his feet and darted across the sand. “Mommy!” His brown hair stood up every which way, and his normally serious blue eyes—the one physical trait he had of his father’s—were gleaming with joy.
Matt rose to his feet with a warm and alluring smile, looking even more gorgeous in the light of day than he did last night. His hair was tousled, as if he’d run his hands through it. His cut had scabbed over and a peppering of whiskers had darkened on his chiseled cheeks, adding an edge to his normally clean-cut appearance. The sight of him brought goose bumps to her flesh.
Hagen launched himself into her arms, pulling her from her reverie.
“Hi, baby. Did you have fun?” She carried him to where Matt and the others were standing as Hagen chattered on about his slumber party.
“We had pizza and watched the movieRobotsand stayed up until ten o’clock! Matt’s going to make a robot with me. We got all the stuff, and Uncle Drake said he was jealous because no one taught him to make robots when he was my age. I wanted to build a boat, but Matt said I had to wait until he learned some things from Pete. Matt’s going to talk to Pete, and maybe one day we’ll build a boat with Pete’s help. That’s okay, right, Mom? You know Pete. He’s nice, like Matt. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and guess what?”
His chirpy voice was music to Mira’s ears. He and Matt were going to make a robot? How? When? Matt was watching Hagen with the sweetest smile she’d ever seen, and her heart melted. “What, baby?”
“He likes chunky peanut butter like me,” Hagen said proudly.
“I’ll be sure to stock up.”
Matt met her gaze andsweetturned to blazing heat. She caught an appreciative grin from Serena and a serious, though approving, look from Drake.
Hagen wiggled free from her arms and plopped down on the sand with a book. “Me and Matt were readingAll About Robots, but Uncle Drake and Serena wanted to talk.”
Matt leaned in close, eyed Hagen, and stopped short of kissing her cheek, squeezing her hand instead. His thoughtfulness stirred a swarm of butterflies in her stomach.
“Morning, sunshine,” he said. “Hope you slept okay.”
“Sunshine!” Hagen giggled. “He called you that at Grayson’s!”
“Ilovethe nickname,” Serena said. Hugging Mira, she whispered, “Smart, great with Hagen, and I totally approve. If you don’t go out with this man, I might.”
“No,” Mira said too fast and too loud. Her brother and Matt gave her quizzical looks. “Um, I mean, no thanks, Serena. Matt’s going to take me to get my car.”
Matt stifled a laugh, but not the knowing grin that told her his ears were buzzing. “Drake and I already picked it up.”
“Um,” was the brilliant response that popped out of her mouth.You took care of Hagen and picked up my car?
“Her mind’s still fuzzy from sleep,” Serena said in an attempt to save her.
Hardly. Lust maybe.
“Did Hagen do okay?” she asked.
Hagen called out, “Yes.”
“He was fine,” Matt reassured her. “I had to let him peek in on you to see that you were really sleeping, and once he did, we got right into guy stuff.”
Hagen looked up at Matt with a wide smile, and Matt winked.Guy stuff.Hagen obviously loved being included as aguyinstead of aboy. She wanted to give Matt a big kiss for that, but that would have to wait until a certainguywasn’t watching.
Mira turned her attention to Drake and Serena. At six two, with dark wavy hair and eyes the color of night, both of her brothers were mirror images of the young man their father had once been. Although Rick could be a hothead, Drake had a calm, confident demeanor, much like her son. Except today Hagen seemed like he might burst with excitement over building a robot.
“Did you guys give Matt the third degree?”
“Didn’t have to,” Drake said. “I know his brother Pete, and you work for his father. How bad could he be?”
“Matt’s not bad,” Hagen insisted.
“Thanks, buddy,” Matt said. “He’s just watching out for your mom, who looks beautiful today, by the way.”
Wow, good answer.
Hagen giggled at that, too.
