Page 133 of Unbreakable
“It was medical advice for me to have the time of my life,” she sniffed. “We only get this one journey on this rock circling the sun. I’ve gotta live it up.”
I snuck a kiss into her neck again and traced her curves from her breasts to her ass. “That mean we’re having the time of our life tonight?”
“If you’re good and get those forms filled out, big guy.” With that, Jeanine raised an eyebrow, stuffed her earbud back in, and sauntered to the back door, sticking her head out. “You kids want a snack?”
“Hey, wait,” I said, calling her back over and waving my hand to make sure I got her attention.
She pulled the headphone case out of her pocket and put them away, looking at me in question.
“Why don’t you go play with them after this?” I offered. “I’ll take anything I can off your plate.”
Jeanine glanced back at me from where she got cut veggies and a container of hummus out of the fridge. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”
“I could . . . find some help for you?”
Her hands were busy spooning hummus onto four plates, one heaped extra high for me. “No weirdos?”
“Absolutely no weirdos will enter our home,” I said. “You really think I’d let anyone near you and the kids I didn’t trust?”
She tossed her head from side to side. “That’s true. You have one hell of a protective streak. Speaking of, what time is Colton coming over? And did you ever figure out if he’s bringing someone with him?”
“6 o’clock, and I don’t think he’s seeing anyone seriously. I don’t want to rub it in.”
J grimaced. “Noted. I will not bring up girlfriends.”
The kids piled in from outside, all lined up in a row at the kitchen island while they had their snacks. Jeannie stole veggies from my plate and teased the kids about which one of them was the best singer. She made each of them perform and we rated them. Alice took home extra bonus points because she added a dance element.
But the best moment of all was when she finished up and shouted, “Last one to the climbing tree’s a rotten egg!”
The kids tore after her and I could hear their laughter from the yard while I worked on Jeanine’s doctor-finding project.
A few hours later,Colton pushed back from our dining table, replaced since the infamous butt bruising incident. “Jeanine, I’ve got a chef and this dinner was fucking?—”
“Watch it,” I cut in with a wink to J. “This isn’t the rink.”
Jeanine gave me a quick eye roll but she was smirking.
“Sorry, my bad,” Colt said, turning to the kids. “I have a potty mouth.”
A chorus of “eww” came from the other end of the table.
“Can I show you my dance?” Alice asked.
“I want to play beauty shop,” Bella demanded.
Jeannie gave them a good-natured smile. “Girls, I’m sure Colton wants to talk to Daddy. He’s Daddy’s special guest.”
“No, no, I’d love to see the dance, and I’m definitely in for beauty shop,” Colton said, his whole face lit up. “As long as you don’t mind me talking to your dad while you give me a makeover.”
“What about me?” Greyson asked.
“You’ve got homework, bud,” Jeanine said. “Finish that and we’ll see if Colton’s still down to play.”
“I’ll stick around,” Colton said, leaning toward Greyson. “I’ll wait for ya.”
The girls rushed away from the table. “Plates away, girls!” I called after them, but Jeannie just tossed a hand.
“They’re too excited for all that,” she said, rising and gathering all the plates. Colton tried to help her, but she waved him off. We stood and moved into the living room. Colton sat on the floor, anticipating the girls descending upon him with their beauty shop frenzy.
