Page 10 of Protecting the Boundary
“Let’s get you moved into the guesthouse before you guys play.”
I stand up. “Actually, we should probably do formal introductions. It’s useful to know someone’s name before you live with them.” I thrust my hand out. “I’m Meredith Gable.”
He stares at my hand like it’s going to bite him, and then with distrust in his gaze, he grasps my hand in his. “Romel Watson.”
My brows furrow. “Romel Watson…why does that name sound familia—oh. Ohhh!” It finally hits me who he is, and my hunch about why Mrs. Brooks was asking if I was really into football gets confirmed. “You play for the Wolves.”
He nods.
“Cool. Well, nice to officially meet you.”
He seems surprised that I’m not fangirling over him, but I wasn’t lying to Mrs. Brooks in my interview. Football isn’t my favorite sport.
“I’ll help you with your suitcases,” he says to me before he addresses Kaylee. “Why don’t you go hang out in the living room while I help Meredith.”
“Miss Mere,” she says, and it definitely comes off like she’s correcting him this time. I bite back a laugh.
Then my heart stutters when I watch this man completely transform as his expression softens and he smiles down at his daughter with so much love.
He brushes his hand over her hair, which is up in pigtails again, except this time one is higher than the other. “Miss Mere,” he acquiesces.
If I thought he was hot in the grocery store, it’s nothing compared to how attractive he is when he turns into a giant softy for his daughter.
“I help too,” she says, her voice soft again.
The struggle on Romel’s expression tells me he hates telling her no, and I can’t blame him. She’s too cute for words with her round cheeks and big, light brown eyes. Her complexion is lighter than his dark brown skin. I wonder how much she looks like her mother, and if that’s hard for him.
Everyone used to tell me how much I looked like a perfect mix of my parents, and I think that often made it easier on my dad that I wasn’t the spitting image of my mom.
“I’ve got a little suitcase with wheels if you want to showoff your muscles and push it for me,” I tell Kaylee. It’s hard to deny her when it’s clear how badly she wants to be helpful.
She turns to me, that big smile back on her face, and I swear it’s contagious because I feel my cheeks pull up in an answering grin. When I glance at her dad, he’s staring at me like I’m some kind of witch with magic he doesn’t understand.
“Shall we get started?” I ask him, arching my brow.
I open my hand for Kaylee and she eagerly grabs it, and then I turn without bothering to wait for her dad. The smallest suitcase has 360-degree rolling wheels, so I give her the handle and show her how it works. Then I grab the other two and shut the door.
Romel frowns. “That’s it? That’s all you brought?”
I look down at my three suitcases which I thought was almost too much. “Most of my stuff is still in boxes from when I moved back to my dad’s house after I graduated. I just packed a bunch of clothes and the essentials. I figure I can buy anything else I might need.”
He scratches at his chest, and it draws my gaze to the way his T-shirt fits across his broad, fit body. God, why did the hot guy from the store have to be her dad? I look away, focusing on Kaylee.
“Ready, KayBear?”
She giggles. “KayBear?”
“Yup. You got to give me a nickname, so now I get to give you one.”
She beams up at me and nods her head. “Okay!”
“Lead the way,” I tell her.
She practically bounces as she walks and pushes my small suitcase into her house. Romel steps forward and grabs the handle of my largest suitcase. There’s a moment where our gazes connect, and my heart rate picks up the same way it didwhen I looked up at him in the store. I thought he was the sexiest man I’d ever seen in person, and I hate the way butterflies flutter in my stomach as his gaze seems to warm me from the inside out. All too quickly, he looks away, focusing on the suitcase in his hand and then to a path that wraps around the house.
“There’s also a way to get to the guesthouse without having to walk through the main house. That path circles around the house and into the backyard. You just have to undo the latch at the top of the gate. It’s high so Kay can’t reach it and get out without supervision.”
“Okay,” I say.
