I blink at her for a moment and then nod. “That about covers it.”
“I say you practice on that tall drink of water over there,” Charly says.
“Right.” I snort and shake my head. “The first time I try, he’ll laugh at me. He’s a professional athlete, Charly. I don’t want or need to be another notch in his belt.”
“It’s true that in his rookie days Rhys was a bit of a man-whore,” Kate says.
“Kate! That’s your cousin you’re talking about.” Van looks outraged, then giggles.
“Hey, he’ll admit the same,” Kate says reasonably. “But he hasn’t been that way in a long time, Gabs. We joke about it, but he’s been so focused on baseball, I couldn’t tell you when the last time was that he had a girlfriend.”
Interesting.
“Has he flirted with you?” Charly wants to know. I can’t help but think of the night on the porch when he sifted his fingers through my hair. Or the occasions since then when he makes sure I don’t carry anything heavy, or compliments my hair.
“He seems to like my hair,” I reply softly.
“Flirt back,” Van suggests and lays her hand on my arm with encouragement. “You never know what might happen.”
“Mom!” Sam comes running into the gazebo. “Mr. Rhys let me push the sled! I pushed seventy-five pounds, all by myself!”
“That’s amazing,” I reply and ruffle his hair. “You’re strong, that’s for sure.”
“I know.”
“Say hello to your aunts.” Sam takes turns hugging and chatting with each of his aunts, who kiss his cheeks, and he wipes the kisses off just to get more.
Although he’d deny that until the day he dies.
“Hello, ladies,” Rhys says as he joins us. “Having fun?”
He stands to my side and rests his hand on my shoulder, perking my nipples right up.
Damn freaking nipples.
“Don’t you know?” Charly replies with her eyes on his hand. “We always have fun.”
Rhys grips a strand of my hair in his fingers and begins to twirl it absentmindedly. “I believe it,” he replies with a wink. “Do you come out here for lunch often?”
“Not as often as we would like,” Van says. “You look good, Rhys.”
“Thanks, darling. You are beautiful, as always.”
Van laughs, then sobers. “Thanks. How long are you here?”
I feel him shrug beside me, my hair still in his fingers, but then he starts to just comb my hair, sifting the strands through his fingers, and I want to purr.
And three sets of eyes, two hazel and one the same deep green as her cousin’s, are on me.
Challenging me.
Daring me.
Shit, what in the ever-loving hell am I supposed to do?
I bite my lip and clench my eyes closed for just a heartbeat, and when I open them, the girls are grinning.
He must have said something funny. I have no idea, because I’ve suddenly been struck deaf.
I hope it’s not permanent.
All I can feel are Rhys’s fingers in my hair and his body close to mine, so I decide to do what comes naturally. I lean into his touch, and rest my face on his side, as he continues to play with my hair.
He doesn’t even miss a beat. He doesn’t seem surprised, or taken aback. He just keeps running those fingers through my hair and talks to my sisters and Kate.
But Charly’s eyes have widened, and Van has a proud tilt to her lips, and I’m proud with her. I did it. I flirted back.
And, oh dear sweet heaven above, does the hard wall that is his side feel good against my face. The man is pure muscle. I want to pull his T-shirt up and lick him, but I restrain myself.
Barely.
“We should go,” Van says as she stands. “Kate and Eli have a date in a few hours.”
“Let’s help Gabby clean up first,” Kate says as I pull away from Rhys’s side, and he steps back. But when I look up at him, his green eyes are bright and warm and he’s sporting that sexier than all get-out half-smile.
That smile holds promises.
And promises of what, I’m not sure yet, but I think I want to find out.
“No, you all go on.” Rhys steps forward, authority in every line of his body.
Damn, if that isn’t hot.
“The men will clean up while Gabby walks you out.”
I frown and shake my head. “This isn’t your job.”
“Oh please,” Kate replies before Rhys can. “Let the man earn his keep. Come with us.”
I don’t like it. He’s a guest. He shouldn’t be clearing a table. But I am swept away with the others to their cars.
“I’m so happy you came,” I say and hug each of them. “We need to do this more often.”
“Sounds good,” Charly says as she hugs me. “Is Sam still going with Mama on her trip tomorrow?”
“Yes. Which reminds me, I need to get him packed.”
“Enjoy your alone time with Hottie McHotterson.” Charly wiggles her eyebrows, making me laugh. “I’m serious. Test out the flirting skills. There’s no harm in it.”
“She’s right,” Kate agrees. “And trust me when I say he likes you.”
“Oh, sugar, you got that right,” Van adds. “He couldn’t keep his hand out of your hair.”
“And when you laid your cheek on his side, I thought he was going to carry you off, caveman-style,” Charly whispers.
“No way. He didn’t even react,” I insist.
“You couldn’t see his eyes,” Kate replies. “We could. We know. Flirt with him. And keep us posted.”
“I think you’re all nuts.”
“You’re nuts to ignore the two-hundred pounds of delicious man under your own roof.”
***
“Maybe I shouldn’t go,” Sam says with a worried frown as I fold his clothes and organize them into piles on his bed.
“You go every summer, buddy.” I march back to his dresser for more underwear and grab his swim trunks too. “It’s only for a week.”
“Eight days,” he reminds me. “Did you know that an ostrich eye is bigger than its brain?”
“Wow. They must have small brains.”
“Or big eyes,” Sam replies with a grin. My smart boy. And then he sobers again. “Sinceriously.”
“Sinceriously is not a word.”
“It means I’m sincerely serious,” he says and punches his fist into his baseball glove. “Won’t you miss me?”
“I’ll miss you every minute of the day,” I reply, and mean every word. “But your cousins in Florida love to see you, and Nannan loves to have you with her. It would hurt her feelings if you backed out now.”
Every summer we go through this, and every summer is the same. He’s nervous about leaving me, until he’s on the plane, and then it’s just a big adventure and I practically have to bribe him to come home.
“What about Mr. Rhys?”
I stop folding clothes and glance at my son, who continues to punch his fist into his mitt. “What about him?”
“Will he be gone when I get back?”
Ah, there it is.
“No, sweetie, he’ll still be here. He’s going to be here for a while.”
He lifts his big brown eyes to mine. “What if he doesn’t like me anymore when I get home?”
I laugh and begin organizing his suitcase.
“Now you’re just being silly. Of course he’ll still like you. I still like you when you come home, don’t I?”
“You have to like me. You’re my mama.”
I sit on the bed and pull him into my lap. When did he get so big?
“I love you, and Rhys likes you, and none of that will change when you get home.”
He snuggles against me, and I bury my nose in his hair. “Promise?”
“Of course I promise.”
“When do I get my dog?”
The change of subject makes me grin. “When it’s old enough to come home. About a month, I guess.”
“Okay.”
He scrambles off my lap and tosses a baseball into his suitcase. “Last year, Lennie lost my ball, so I better take a spare.”
“Good idea.”
“What are we having for dinner?”
“Fried chicken with collard greens and grits.”
“My favorite!”
“Of course. You’re going to be gone for a whole week.”
“Eight days.”
***