The Here and Now (Worlds Collide The Duets #2) - LL Meyer Page 0,3
to call them back to remind them of the ‘rules’ before they take off running. As he watches them go, I watch him. Yes, he’s still the Scott I know, the one who needs a haircut again, the one whose sense of humor matches mine, and the one who I love with a fierce protectiveness, but now he’s also the one who speaks to his kids with patience and calm confidence. If I was in love with him before, now I’m –
He turns to me, about to say something, but stops when he sees my face. “What?” The dark brown of his eyes glows in the sunshine.
“Uh . . . I’m just trying to wrap my head around the idea of . . .” I gesture vaguely to the play area.
“The idea of me being responsible for human beings?” he says on a laugh, then turns back to the playground. “Carmen! We’re over here.” He points to a bench a few feet away.
Once we’re seated, I ask him, “Why do you say it like it’s ridiculous?”
His lips tilt, giving his expression an ironic bent. “Because it is ridiculous. This adulting thing . . .” He shakes his head ruefully.
“You’re good at this adulting thing.”
“Not by choice.”
“I doubt many people do it by choice,” I tell him, wondering why he doesn’t feel his efforts to be a good parent are worthy of praise. “Personally, I find it incredibly attractive.”
That clams him up, but he seems to be searching his mind for some kind of rebuttal. I put a stop to that by changing the subject – kind of. “Speaking of adulting, my graduation ceremony is in a couple of weeks.”
“Oh, yeah? You going to invite me?”
I flip my sunglasses up onto the top of my head to gauge his reaction more closely. “Of course I’m going to invite you,” I say with a sureness that slips with my next words. “You’re going to come, right?”
“I’d like to see you keep me away.”
I bite my lip. “Even if my parents will be there. I mean, you won’t have to sit with them or anything, but I can’t guarantee my mom will . . . behave herself.”
After the way my mother treated him at the charity gala, I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to avoid her at all costs, but he just gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry. I can take care of myself. Besides, I’d put up with almost anything for you.”
Relieved, I tease him. “Oh, really?”
“Really,” he confirms, leaning in to plant a kiss on the corner of my mouth before he turns his attention back to the slides, searching for the girls to make sure they’re all right. “You think I could bring them?”
“The girls? You think they’d want to go?”
He shrugs. “It’s a big deal, right? Maybe they’ll get inspired or something.”
“Yeah, maybe. Either that or they’ll die of boredom.”
“That’s pretty unlikely,” he says, his tone bordering on sardonic. “You won their ever-lasting devotion with that stunt you pulled in the truck.”
My mouth falls open and I feel my cheeks heat for the second time today. “That was not a stunt . . . that was . . . that was an attempt to cultivate a foundation from which to grow a healthy relationship with very small humans.”
“Uh huh. Spout all the high-sounding bull you want, but that, Elsabeth Summers, was a stunt. I’ll give you credit, though. It was a pretty successful one.”
I’m loathe to concede the point, but I hear the hope in my next words. “You think?”
He laughs. “You’re awesome, you know that?”
“What? Two seconds ago you accused me of trying to manipulate your children.”
“No one’s manipulating anyone,” he says with easy, good humor. “I’m happy that it means so much to you that you’re willing to stoop so low.”
Our eyes clash, his amused, mine mildly incensed. “If there weren’t small children in the area, I’d give you the finger, Mr. McCarthy.”
Smirking, he pulls me closer. “Don’t get all kinky on me now, Opal.”
Our soft laughter is interrupted by, “Tío?”
Looking up, we find Daniela standing not two feet away. “Can I leave my sweater here? It’s too hot.”
“Yeah, of course you can,” he tells her, playing it cool. “Actually let me get a picture of you, okay?” He stretches out his tall frame to retrieve his cell from his jeans pocket and snaps a pic of her. “Tell your sisters I need one of them too,” he calls as she’s running away.