One Look: A grumpy, single dad small town romance(37)

Penny’s hands were folded under her chin, her big brown eyes full of hope.

“Fine with me.” Michael shrugged.

I reached into my car and grabbed the small booster seat she still needed. When Michael reached for it, I paused. “No hotdogging. Under the speed limit.”

He smiled. “You bet.”

I sighed. “You know what? Just follow me.”

They piled into the car, Penny nestled safely in the back, her little sneakers kicking with excitement. I rounded my car and opened the passenger door for Lark.

“Thank you.” Her voice was soft, and her perfume’s notes of cinnamon and citrus floated over me. My entire body ached. I still wasn’t used to how good she always smelled. Suddenly the thought of being alone in the car with her on the drive to Tootie’s house, even though it was short, was unbearable.

Lark smiled as I got behind the wheel. Her fingertips toyed with the hem of her dress. It was a soft, fluttery thing. Deep, navy blue with large wooden buttons that went from the hem all the way up to the scooping neckline. Her arms were bare, and a bright-green belt was tied at her waist.

Lark was gorgeous, and I knew the short drive was about to kill me.

I focused on the road, my eyes constantly flicking from the smooth skin of her thighs to the rearview mirror, ensuring Penny and the boys were safe. Lark was unfazed, and she made the conversation easy and light as we drove the few miles to where Aunt Tootie lived.

As we pulled in, both Lee and Duke were already there, which likely meant my dad would be joining us too. It would be a full house, which normally would make me itchy, but it also meant lots of opportunities to avoid looking at Lark.

Since the moment I hired her, she had ingrained herself more and more into our everyday lives. It felt effortless. I started looking forward to her smiles, the tiny adjustments to my calendar, notes she’d leave on the counter about Penny’s day. I craved even the smallest moments where our shoulders would brush or I was close enough to see the golden light dance in her hazel eyes.

I had never wanted anyone as bone deep as I wanted Lark.

And it was a real problem.





Rolling to a stop in front of my aunt’s house brought with it a flood of memories. Happy ones. The house was down a quiet country road, hidden by a long driveway and careful landscape that provided cozy privacy.

When we turned down the drive and bumped over the railroad tracks that ran alongside the property, my grip tightened, and I tried to ignore the way Lark’s mouthwatering curves bounced along with it.

A bark caught my attention as Duke’s three-legged dog ran alongside the vehicles. Lark looked on with concern.

“That’s just Ed.”

She looked at me. “Ed?”

“Duke’s dog.”

“In a town with grown men named Itchy and Bumper and Bowlegs, the dog’s name is Ed?”

I shrugged and offered a small smile. “Technically, he became Three-Legged Ed.”

“What happened to him?” she asked as I pulled the car to a stop alongside Lee’s truck.

“He stopped, but the car didn’t.”

Horrified, Lark got out of the car and bent to pet the shaggy, overly friendly dog. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Ed.”

I walked up beside her as the boys and Pickle hopped out of Michael’s car, and the dog took off to sniff the Goldfish crumbs off Penny’s skirt.

We walked up the steps to Tootie’s home, and I frowned, remembering the rotting wood. I noted that one of the shutters on the top floor was missing. Lark looked out across the yard toward the acres and acres of blueberry bushes.

“It’s beautiful.”

I nodded. “It’s really pretty in the spring when they’re flowering. Do you see that opening there?” I leaned in dangerously close, motioning over her shoulder to point at a small break in the tree line. “If you follow it long enough, it winds around and you run right into Highfield House.”

Lark turned her head, and our faces were inches apart, eyes locked on each other. “Like a secret passageway. That’s very cool.”

I could lean in. Indulge myself and brush a kiss against her lips. Feel her moan as I kiss her.

I cleared my throat and stepped away. At the front door, I knocked once and walked right in.

My aunt was bustling in the kitchen, stirring something with one hand and bending to check something else in the oven. Lee and Duke were out in the back, so we said hi to Tootie, but when she shooed us out of the kitchen, we joined my dad where he sat on a recliner in the living room. The boys opted to walk around the expansive property before dinner. I suspected Michael went in search of Lee.

“Papa!” Penny pulled him into a hug, and Dad smiled widely. He stood to shake hands with me.

A pretty good day, then.

“Dad, this is Lark.”

Dad held out his hand. “Red. Pleased to meet you.”

Lark smiled brightly and didn’t remind him that they’d already met at Bowlegs’s funeral. Instead, she took a seat on the couch closest to Dad as we all settled in.

“He dropped back but couldn’t find anyone downfield.” Dad leaned forward across the arm of his recliner, lost in the memory of one of my games.

Lark leaned in, unfazed by the abrupt drop into the middle of a conversation. She listened intently to a story I’d heard him tell a thousand times.