LOL: Laugh Out Loud (After Oscar, #2)(61)

He slipped into some jeans and a henley shirt before pulling a thick sweater on over it. I watched his body as he dressed. My eyes were glued to him like little twin perverts, but I truly had never seen a man more mesmerizing. When he turned and caught me staring, I finally had to snap out of it and finish dressing myself.

“By the way,” Scotty said as we started downstairs. “We need to move rooms. This one is hexed.”

I was still laughing at the comment when we reached the cacophony in the kitchen. I recognized Earl and my niece Sonya singing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” together at top volume and increasing speed. My younger niece Naomi, or Nay-Nay as we called her, was sitting on a stool, kicking her legs and giggling along.

Diana was at the stove already cooking the french toast. I smelled bacon coming from the oven too. It was a domestic scene that made me miss home. I’d been back to Nebraska for Christmas, but I hadn’t been able to stay very long since we’d been in the middle of filming.

“Uncle Roman!” Sonya shouted when she saw me. She came flying around the counter and threw her arms around my waist. I picked her up for a real hug and relished the feel of her little body in my arms. The girls were such unadulterated sweetness and light, they never failed to bring me joy.

“Sweet Sonya, how is your new hamster?” I asked, setting her down so I could pick up Nay-Nay and give her a hug. “And how is this giant girl doing?”

Sonya proceeded to go right into updating me on the state of the Christmas hamster, and Nay-Nay nodded along like a bobblehead. I met Scotty’s eyes over Nay-Nay’s head and winked at him.

When the pace of my niece’s chatter finally slowed, I introduced Scotty. “Girls, this is my good friend Scotty. Scotty, this is Sonya, who just turned five, Naomi, who is three and a half, my sister Diana, who is—”

“Don’t you dare do it, Roman Anthony Burke,” Diana warned with a laugh. “My husband taught me how to work a bullwhip, and I won’t hesitate to use it on you.”

I walked over to kiss her on the cheek. “And that is Earl. The man who’s lucky enough to live with these lovely ladies. And who apparently has tastes in the bedroom I didn’t need to know about.”

I shifted Naomi to one hip and pulled Scotty in with the opposite arm. “Guys, this is Scotty Pinker. He’s the man I told you about who drives the horse and carriage in Central Park.”

Sonya came up to Scotty and tugged on his sweater. “Can we meet your horse? Daddy says you have a horse who pulls the carriage and that Uncle Roman brought her with you here on vacation.”

Scotty crouched down until he was at face level with her. “Absolutely, why don’t we help your mom with breakfast, and then I’ll take you out to the barn and introduce you to Nugget?” Sonya nodded earnestly. “Should we set the table, then?” Scotty asked.

I set Nay-Nay down, and both girls took off toward where Earl was holding out silverware and napkins.

“Finding everything okay?” I asked, moving to grab a serving platter and setting it down at Diana’s elbow. “I didn’t mean for you to show up and start cooking for us.”

She turned and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “It’s fine. The girls wanted french toast, and I wanted something to keep us busy till you got down here. This place is amazing, Roman,” she said, waving her spatula around. “How come you’d never been here before with Oscar?”

I watched Scotty wander off toward the kitchen table to help the girls. When he couldn’t seem to get a word in edgewise with Sonya, I figured my chatty carriage driver had finally met his match in my niece.

“Roman?” Diana prodded.

“Huh?” I asked, turning back toward my sister, whose eyes were twinkling. “What was that?”

Her eyes shifted to Scotty and back to me. Her lips twisted into a knowing smirk. “Who’s the kid?”

I felt my cheeks warm. “He’s not a kid.”

“Who’s the man?” she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“I told you,” I said petulantly. “He’s the carriage driver. From, you know, the incident.”

Diana snorted and met Earl’s eyes. The two of them exchanged a knowing look. “He’s cute,” she said.

“Yeah,” I agreed without thinking. It came out as more of a lovesick sigh than anything else.

She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh my god,” she said in an excited whisper. “You’ve got it bad. Tell me everything.”

Scotty was still listening to Sonya ramble on about hamster habitats while they carefully and meticulously set each place at the table.

“I really like him,” I admitted, keeping my eye on him as he moved around the large table.

“Duh.” Diana rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Roman,” she said, elbowing me. “Get to the good stuff.”

I fiddled with a fork, running my fingers across the tines. “It can’t turn into anything, can it? I mean, after what happened with Pete…”

“Fuck Pete,” Earl said. “He wasn’t good enough for you.”

“He loved me,” I reminded them.

“Not enough,” Diana said softly. “And he wasn’t right for you anyway. He was too… I don’t know… soft, maybe?”

“I like soft,” I said. “What’s wrong with soft?”