Love, Tussles, and Takedowns (Cactus Creek #3)(14)

Brian chuckled. “This town has some very unique amenities.”

Clearly.

Seeing the children now gathered around Lia, silently hanging on her every word, Hudson marveled, “She’s really great with them isn’t she?”

“Yep. You wouldn’t guess it from how quiet she is, but Lia definitely has a way with kids, in a way that’s uniquely her own. MaGyver-ing games out of random things around town like she’s doing now is just one of the reasons why they love her. I know my kids and my niece”—he nodded over at a cute little girl with Connor’s blue eyes—“are definitely huge fans. To them, Lia’s one of the town amenities they’re always wanting to visit Cactus Creek to come see.”

Hudson could see why. Lia had a very…unassuming charm the kids seemed drawn to. There wasn’t a single trace of rah-rah kid’s show host in her actions, nor did she carry herself like a singing dinosaur. She was more like a modern day Pied Piper, quietly inspiring fun, effortlessly cultivating life. In fact, just watching her lead the kids over to a tire swing tree at the center of the park, he half expected smiling daisies to slowly bloom to life out of the ground in her wake.

While it had been crazy sexy to see her passion about antique rifles, mind-blowingly erotic to see her this morning in her thin white tank top and cute boyshort panties…this…seeing her directing the now dozen or so kids that had gathered around her as if she were the Pied Piper—it tugged on a part of his heart he hadn’t really thought was accessible anymore.



*



“OKAY, GANG ARE we ready?” called out Lia. “Are all the logs in place? We’re going for a strike so we need to make sure it’s in a nice, clean triangle.” She walked back over to check on Skylar Sullivan, the designated “bowling ball” in today’s game. It was an honor bestowed on the lanky teen by the town children primarily because she was the only one of the bunch taller than three feet, but also because they all just flat-out adored her. Lia didn’t blame ‘em. Skylar was one very cool soon-to-be-sixteen-year-old. Lia didn’t know many high schoolers who would choose to hang out with her toddler sister and wobbler cousins on the weekends, not to mention a bunch of random grade school kids currently lining up to push her on the tire swing toward their makeshift “bowling pins.”

“Alright, who’s up first?”

Two little preschoolers bounced forward like eager bunnies while Skylar made a theatric show of securing her grip on the rope like a trapeze artist.

“When I say go, you two give her a nice big push now.” All the parents of the gaggle of kids had gathered around as well to watch, indulgent smiles alit. “Okay, 1 – 2 – 3 – GO!” All the kids squealed as the two “bowlers” gave Skylar a mighty shove on the rope and watched as she swung toward the big plastic logs they’d arranged as the “pins.”

There was a collective, “Oooh,” and a raucous symphony of cheering as Skylar put an extra fancy flare on her return swing back and picked up the 7-10 split via the very tip of an outstretched hand, along with the last-second Hail Mary launch of her flip flops.

Judges’ ruling?

Totally allowed.

Arms up in triumph along with the kids, she gave them all hi-fives just as she saw Hudson standing at the edge of the crowd, shaking his head and smiling at her.

“Okay kids, I gotta get going. My friend is here.” At the musical collection of, “Awwws,” she chuckled and waved over a few parents to take over her little ringmaster role before heading over to Hudson.

“You could’ve bowled a few more rounds with the kids,” he told her, smiling ear to ear.

“Nah, that’s okay. I usually just get them all riled up and then send them back to their parents.” She beamed as she watched the kids and parents cheer through a strike. “This was one of my more successful games.” Turning back to check out his empty hands, she frowned. “They didn’t have any cool toys you could get?”

“I actually didn’t make it to the toy store,” he replied with an amused chuckle.

“What happened?”

“The entire town decided to stop me for an interrogation the minute you stepped into the shop.”

What? Hands on hips, she scanned the streets to see if she could find any usual suspects. She stopped counting at ten. “Hudson, I’m so sorry. They’re a little…nosy.”

“They worry about you. It’s cute. And it’s no big deal. I can swing by the toy shop on my way back home after breakfast.”

At the reminder that he’d be gone in a few hours, Lia fell silent, surprised at her level of disappointment over a man she’d just met leaving town.

When she felt Hudson’s hand grip her elbow gently, she looked down and blinked.

They were about to step off a curb. How’d she miss that? He ensured she’d make that harrowing journey off the four-inch landing with a warm palm that sensitized her back, and she barely concealed the ripple of awareness in her breathing.

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t so surprised over her level of disappointment. He affected her like no other man ever had. Not even her husband.

Automatically, her fingers went up to her throat to spin the rings on her necklace.

Hudson’s eyes followed the movement, but instead of commenting, he asked instead, “Hey, so what’s the deal with all these people walking around town eating bowls of cereal?”