Adrenaline (Speed Series Book 2)(42)

I chuckled. I had most certainly not forgotten about the ball. It’s not every year a princess turns six. Autumn had been riding my ass for the last week because I promised Sophie a princess ball. How was I to know it would have taken so much effort? It’s not every year a princess turns six.

“I have not forgotten the ball. I even have my outfit picked out.”

Sophie beamed. “Mommy said you and granddaddy were wearing lexeo’s.”

Huh?

“What?”

“Lexeo’s. I heard Mommy tell Clarisse that Paislie was going to shit her pants when she saw you in your lexeo.” Sophie crinkled her nose and shook her head. “I hope not! She seems too old to go potty in her pants.”

I pressed my lips together firmly to keep from laughing. I was going to have to let Autumn know her daughter was now in the stage where she repeated everything she heard.

“Oh! A tuxedo. It’s called a tuxedo, Sophie.”

Sophie looked at me like I had just said the stupidest thing in the world. “That’s what I said!”

I rolled my eyes and silently moaned.

Women. They’re all the same no matter what age.





“A BALL?” I ASKED AUTUMN as I stood there stunned. “Like a real ball?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Scaled down for a bunch of five and six year olds.”

“Um . . . I didn’t bring any formal dresses.”

Autumn’s eyes lit up. “That’s okay! I have plenty and we’re the same size.”

Sophie came running into the kitchen full throttle. It must be in this families genes to want to do everything fast. “Uncle Malcolm is coming too! He’s super slow now that he hurt his leg. But I couldn’t wait ‘cause I’m so excited!”

Autumn and I both laughed. How could you not? Sophie’s excitement rubbed off on you almost instantly.

“Why are you so excited, princess?” I asked.

She covered her mouth and giggled. “I can’t tell you! It’s a secret between me and Uncle Malcolm.”

The air in the room changed and I placed my hand over my stomach when it dropped at the sight of him.

He was dressed in jeans, boots and a light-grey T-shirt that showed every single muscle he had. His messy, dark hair looked like he had just gotten out of the shower and ruffled it with his hand. Oh lord . . . then there was the scruff he had started wearing. Even with the added walking cane, he was hot as hell and made my panties wet.

God broke the hotter-than-hell mold when he made Malcolm. My eyes drifted over his body. The tattoos that stretched over his arm made me think of the Christina Aguilera song, ‘Candy Man’. And man oh man would I love to taste that candy.

“I don’t think you could eye f*ck my brother any harder if you tried,” Autumn whispered in my ear as I felt my cheeks heat. Tearing my eyes from him, I looked at her as she laughed and I gave her a light push.

“Shut up,” I said while placing my hands over my cheeks to cool my face down. When I looked back at Malcolm, he was watching me. He slowly smiled and his damn dimple showed up just in time to push me damn near over the ledge.

I swear the sexual tension between us was going to blow and when it did, I didn’t picture sweet and romantic. No . . . it was going to be more like fast, hard, and sweaty.

“Oh lord,” I mumbled under my breath as I turned away from him.

Sophie took my hand in hers and pulled me. “We need to go buy you a pretty dress, Paislie, for the ball.”

Peeking through my eyelashes at Malcolm, he shrugged and shook his head.

“Well ladies, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go see what I can do to help with the . . . ball.”

He shot Autumn a smirk as she gave him the finger without Sophie seeing. When Malcolm walked by, he stopped and looked at Autumn. “By the way, your child repeats everything you say.”

A horrified look washed over Autumn’s face as I giggled. “What did she say?”

“That Paislie was going to shit her pants when she saw me in my tux.”

My breath stalled. “Tux?” Holy shit. Malcolm in a tux. I can’t even right now. I’m in hotness overload.

Malcolm’s blue eyes pinned me in place. “Yep,” he said like it was nothing. Malcolm laughed as he headed to the living room and outside where they were setting everything up.

“Honestly, the party is more for the parents than the kids. That’s sad to say, but there it is,” Autumn said as she took me by the arm and led me to her room upstairs.

“Paislie is going to wear one of Mommy’s gowns, Soph.”

Sophie clapped and took off upstairs.

“Wow. I was happy if I just got a happy birthday!” I said as we headed upstairs.

Autumn sighed. “I know. It’s terrible how spoiled she is, but damn it’s fun!”



Three hours later I was putting the last bobby pin in my brown hair. I decided to put it up in a French twist with a few curls hanging down to frame my face. Leaning in closer to the mirror, I took in my features. My green eyes were filled with something I’d never seen before.

Hope.

At almost twenty-six years old, I never paid attention to what my eyes said. Elizabeth always said your eyes were the window to your soul. For so many years I saw nothing in my eyes, so eventually I stopped looking.