Sweet Tooth (Little Cakes, #11)(24)

He pressed a hand between her shoulder blades and leaned in closer for a longer, deeper, better kiss, the kind that made her moan before he let her go. “Have I mentioned how amazing you are?”

“Nope.” She shook her head.

“Very amazing. I’m a lucky Daddy. As soon as dinner is over, we’re leaving so I can remind you how lucky I feel.”

He loved the way her cheeks pinkened at the suggestion. She gave him a shy smile and nodded. “Okay, Daddy.”

Those words about brought him to his knees. He considered reneging on his agreement to stay for dinner, throwing her over his shoulder, and leaving the house without a word. But that would embarrass her, so he accepted the situation.





Chapter Eleven





Elizabeth couldn’t remember when she’d laughed so hard in her life. She’d never sat at a table with so many rambunctious people all talking over each other and vying for attention.

There were so many of them. As soon as she and Tom had returned to the kitchen to help set the table, two more men had arrived—Margaret’s and Mary’s husbands.

After more introductions, they all sat around the giant kitchen table. Ten of them. The number would grow in the coming years as the boys met and settled down with someone and grandkids added to the mix.

It was fried-chicken night. A stereotypical dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, greens, biscuits, and the best fried chicken Elizabeth had ever eaten.

She’d been listening to all four of Tom’s siblings tell a wild story on top of one another when she finally lifted a hand. She’d asked a question that apparently had been asked hundreds of times, and the answer was a well-rehearsed comedy. She had to wonder how much of it was actually true. The question: why did everyone but Tom have a name starting with M?

“So let me get this straight,” Elizabeth said, hoping to summarize the saga. “Tom was first born and Margaret and Mary are named after their maternal and paternal grandmothers who happened to both have M names.”

“Correct,” Susan said, wiping tears from her eyes.

“So, Tom was six, Margaret was four, and Mary was two when the twins were born.”

“Yep,” Cecil agreed. His eyes were dancing with mirth as he glanced at Tom. “Bossy pants over here was born thinking he was in charge of everything.”

Elizabeth couldn’t stop grinning. “And you let him name the twins?”

Margaret and Mary were laughing even harder. Their indulgent husbands just grinned and rolled their eyes. They were obviously used to this family dynamic and this story.

Margaret rubbed her huge belly. “I helped. He doesn’t get all the credit. I agreed the fourth child should be named Matthew. That was long before we knew Mom was carrying twins.”

Mark groaned. “I just got tagged on with the first M name Tom could come up with. Apparently he was adamant.”

Susan nodded. “He insisted. We didn’t dislike the names, and we were so busy. Eventually, they just stuck, and then the twins were born, and it was too late to argue.”

“She hasn’t even asked the most frequently asked question of all,” Mary pointed out. “She’s probably too polite.” She giggled as she met Elizabeth’s gaze. “It’s not even a religious thing. We’re not Catholic or anything. Tom had no idea all those names are biblical. I think the local pastor has spent the past twenty-some-odd years wondering why a family like ours who clearly named all five children after important names in the bible isn’t in church every week.”

This made the entire family burst out in laughter all over again.

Elizabeth glanced at Tom again. “So bossy.” She grinned and then jumped to one side when he reached out to pinch her playfully.

“Don’t you forget it,” he warned. His words were teasing, but his tone and his gaze told her an entirely different story about just how bossy he could be.

Elizabeth shuddered and licked her lips, suddenly wanting to be alone with bossy Tom.

He was smiling, and his eyes were crinkled, but under all that was a promise she couldn’t ignore. Or maybe it was more like a threat. It didn’t matter. What mattered was she could easily read how badly he wanted to be alone with her.

She couldn’t look away. She was frozen, locked in his gaze as she fell under his spell. When he reached out and pinched her arm again, she squealed. “Daddy!”

The moment the word slipped out of her mouth, the world stopped spinning. A hush fell over the room.

Tom’s eyes went wide.

Elizabeth was instantly mortified beyond belief. She’d never been so embarrassed in her entire life.

She couldn’t look at anyone. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

Tom reached for her hand, but she didn’t want him to touch her. She jumped up from the table so fast the chair teetered and almost toppled over backward.

In seconds, she was running through the house and out the front door. She was so glad she’d tucked her car keys in her pocket and left her purse in the car because she would never be able to face anyone in this family again to retrieve any belongings that might get left behind.

Oh, God. Oh, God. She fumbled with the door to her car, finally managing to open it, ignoring the fact that Tom was shouting her name. She was marginally aware of him coming toward her. He’d followed her.