Only You (Adair Family #5)(39)

Following Lewis through the crowded room, Walker at my back, we reached Regan’s table only to discover she was sharing it. Apparently with Callie, our Dorothy’s mum.

Callie’s mum was a very attractive, very young blond.

“Brodan, Walker,” Regan greeted us with that dimpled smile as she rounded her table to hug Lewis into her side. She looked down at her stepson. “How was rehearsal?”

Lewis shrugged.

Guilt pricked me. He’d been off the last couple of rehearsals, and I was worried Monroe might be right about him picking up on the animosity between us.

“Uncle Brodan, I helped Mummy make scones!” Eilidh drew my attention to where she stood with Callie and the blond.

“They look amazing,” I complimented, rubbing my tummy for emphasis.

Regan pulled Lewis behind the table with her as she gestured to Callie and the blond. “This is Sloane Harrow and her daughter Callie. Though, Brodan, you know Callie already from the musical.”

“I do. She’s our wonderful Dorothy.” I reached across the table and held out a hand to Sloane. “Nice to meet you.”

People reacted one of two ways to meeting me: awkward starstruck delight or deliberate indifference as some manner of “putting me in my place.” Sloane, however, reacted normally. She gave me a pretty smile and shook my hand like I was just the guy next door. “It’s nice to meet you too,” she said, her American accent unsurprising. “Callie is having a lot of fun, aren’t you, baby girl?”

Callie nodded shyly. Apparently, she was one of those kids who came out of her shell on stage but turtled back inside as soon as she was off it.

“This is Walker Ironside.” I gestured to Walker, who was eyeing the cakes in front of Sloane like a starving man. To be fair, the cupcakes were decorated to perfection. They looked professional. As did the pie and madeleines she’d baked.

Sloane’s eyes lit up with interest at the sight of Walker. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman had thrown me over for Walk, the handsome bastard that he was.

“You work security at Ardnoch, right?” Sloane asked.

Walker looked up at her, his gaze searching. “I know you … you’re the new housekeeper.”

“You’re a housekeeper at Ardnoch?” Regan asked.

Sloane nodded, still gazing up at Walker. “We started around the same time, I think.”

“Right.” Walker’s attention dropped back to her cakes, oblivious to how her eyes raked his shoulders and chest.

Or he was ignoring her interest.

It was hard to tell with him.

I sighed under my breath. “Walker is my bodyguard but is working at Ardnoch while we’re here.”

“Oh.” Sloane’s gaze ran down his body and back up again, a tinge of pink cresting her cheeks.

I grinned at Regan, who smirked knowingly. Aye, she’d caught it too.

“What’s funny?” Eilidh asked loudly.

“Life, princess,” I answered, and then rubbed my hands together. “Okay, how much for one of those delicious scones?”

“Would you like to try a cupcake?” Sloane asked Walker as I handed over the money to my niece.

“Aye, how much?”

“Two pounds.”

Walker frowned and pulled out his wallet. He handed her a five-pound note. “Keep the change. You’re not charging enough.”

“Oh. I’m still getting used to what everything should cost here.” She reached down and plucked a cupcake with white buttercream icing and held it out to Walk.

“Thanks.” He peeled back the paper to bite into it. His eyes widened as he chewed. “Holy fuck,” he murmured, as his attention dropped to the other cupcakes.

Regan glowered at Walker. “There are children present.”

He wasn’t listening. He inhaled the rest of the cupcake and retrieved his wallet again. “I’ll take a box.”

Laughing, I considered betrayal of the Adair bake stand at his reaction. “That good?”

“Try one,” he answered while Sloane beamed as she boxed up four more cupcakes for Walker.

“Do you want to try my madeleines too?” She gestured to the seashell-like cakes.

“Aye, throw in a few of those.” Walker nodded to the pie, already sliced. “What’s in the pie?”

My shoulders shook with amusement as Regan snorted. “Sloane does kick my ass in the baking department.”

Sloane flushed. “The pie is chocolate and salted caramel.”

“You baked it?” he asked.

“Yes. I baked everything here.”

“My mom is the best baker in the world,” Callie offered quietly.

Walker’s gaze moved to the wee girl and softened. “Is that right?”

She nodded, pushing into her mum’s side. “You should try the pie.”

“Then I will. Slice of pie.”

“You’ll go into a sugar coma at this rate,” I warned him.

He cut me a look and answered belligerently, “If you’d try her cupcakes, you’d understand.”

Chuckling, I looked at Regan. “Do you mind, sis?”

“Have at it. Callie does not lie. Eilidh and I had a cupcake before you arrived, and it was …” She made a chef’s kiss.