Heartless: A Small Town Single Dad Romance(73)

“We should hide from him,” Luke says, instantly dropping the sidewalk chalk. We’ve adorned the entire front driveway with hearts of all different colors, shapes, and sizes.

I nod. “Absolutely we should.”

“I know!” He slides his hand into mine, and I try not to think about how sticky it is. Chuckling under my breath, I jog behind him as he drags me behind a big well that sits beside the house. Cement peeks out between the layered stones, and the old wooden beams reach up tall above it. There’s a bucket hanging on a rope, but it has the distinct look of being out of use.

It’s charming, and symbolic, and it smells like wet flint, or the yard after a rainstorm.

“Helloooo!” Luke pops his little face down into the opening, cackling when his greeting echoes back up at him.

I sink to the ground, yanking him down with me. “Shush it, you little hellion. He’s going to hear us.”

“Oh, yeah. Right.” Luke chortles more. Such a happy, goofy kid, even if his attention span leaves something to be desired.

“Hey, Willa?”

“Hey, Luke,” I reply dryly, since the be quiet part obviously didn’t register.

“Sometimes I wish you were my mom.”

I blink at the boy, too stunned to speak, so he continues. “At that birthday party? Where I got held under the water? He told me that even my mom didn’t like me.”

I want to push that kid into the water all over again.

“Well, I don’t just like you, Luke.” My voice comes out thick with emotion, but I’m not so sure he picks up on it. “I love you.”

“You do?” His smile is shy—tentative.

“Yeah. And that kid is a major shithead.”

His hand slaps over his mouth and his eyes go wide before he whispers, “He’s a total shithead and I love you too.”

I instantly pull him close, feeling his tiny body press against mine right where we’re kneeling on the ground.

“Luke!” Cade’s voice is closer this time. “Willa! Why does it look like Valentine’s Day threw up all over the driveway?”

I clap a hand over my mouth to hold in the laughter. Of course, that’s how Cade would see it.

Fucking pessimist.

“You two think you’re funny, don’t you?”

I move my free hand to cover Luke’s mouth because he has no chill and is going to burst.

Cade’s boots move off the paved part of the driveway, and I can hear them crunching against the packed gravel beside it, drawing closer.

“The worst part is . . . when I find you, I’m going to punish you both.”

Luke’s shoulders shake harder. He knows his dad is a big softy under that gruff exterior. I don’t think he’s punished Luke a day in his life.

Me though? I’m not so sure. Bedroom Cade is not Dad Cade. My body tingles in response—I don’t laugh at all.

“I bet you’re . . . behind the shed!” We can hear him jump and then groan when the spot he thought we’d be in is empty.

I turn and give Luke a warning glare because I feel the little puffs of air escaping his lips. After I mouth, Be quiet, he gives me a nod and takes a breath in through his nose.

Cade’s heavy footfalls draw nearer. “How about . . .” He’s approaching the well, but the opposite side. I give Luke a look and point upward, hoping he understands that we’re going to jump.

He nods.

My fingers count down from three.

Two.

One.

“In the well!”

We shoot up and shout, “Boo!”

And predictably, Cade jumps, his tall frame startling as he takes a step back. His handsome face momentarily appears very shocked, and Luke and I dissolve into peals of laughter.

“Gotcha,” I wheeze. “No wet T-shirt this time though!”

“You should have seen your face!” Luke points at him.

“Okay, that’s it. You’re both dead.” Cade points at us, spinning his cap backward and hitting me with a wink.

Dick. He knows it kills me when he wears it like that. Murder me with your dick, please, sir.

Luke turns and guns it for the main house. Cade lets him get a little ahead before his long strides eat up the ground behind him and he scoops Luke up into his arms and starts tickling him. Luke squirms and his light giggles blend with Cade’s deeper baritone.

“Willa! Help!”



“Don’t worry, Luke. I’m coming!” I sprint heroically around the well and get my fingers right up in Cade’s ribs.

He squeals. He straight up squeals, and it is the least manly noise I’ve ever heard come out of such a manly man. We’re all laughing like lunatics, but Cade is stronger, taller, faster—meaner. And somehow, he tosses Luke over one shoulder and hefts me up over the other one.

Luke slaps at his back in breathless hysterics. “Let me down!”

Tossed over the opposite shoulder, I reach down farther and slap his ass, which just makes Luke laugh harder.

“Giddy up, Daddy!” Luke calls, and Cade’s breath huffs out on my bare thigh.

“You two are a pain in my ass.”

“How the hell are you carrying us? This isn’t normal. Put me down.”

“Woman. I can pick up calves, you two are nothing.” His finger traces the inside of my thigh, and I squirm.