Can't Stop the Feeling (Whispering Bay Romance 6)

“Jenna Pantini. It’s nice to meet you.”

“So you were at the University of Miami with my son?” His mother’s voice held a dangerous note of interest Ben had never heard before.

“Jenna and I were study partners our first semester,” he clarified.

“I see.” Mom looked at Jenna the way Rachel looked at ice cream.

“So are you going to school here?” Jenna asked Rachel.

“Grandma says that I can come in the mornings, and Greta says it’s about time I went to school so I can start salsa-ing.” She frowned. “But this is my just-for-now school because when I go to Mami to live with Uncle Ben, I’ll go to another school. I hope they have balloons there, too. Do you think they will?”

Jenna took a few seconds to absorb all that. She smiled warmly at Rachel. “Definitely! Balloons at school are a must. And learning how to salsa is very important, too.”

Rachel giggled.

“Social-izing,” Greta corrected in a frosty tone. “And it’s Mi-ami, Rachel, not Mami.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “That’s what I said!”

Jenna bit her lip to hold back her laughter. Ben couldn’t help but smile as well. Glad to know that his niece could hold her own when she had to.

“Are you here to check out the preschool for your children?” Mom asked Jenna.

“Oh, I don’t have any children. I’m the city manager and I’m standing in for the mayor today. Ribbon-cutting duties, and all that.”

“No children? Does your husband also work for the city?”

Real sly, Mom.

Jenna’s upper lip twitched. “No husband either.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Mom said. Any minute now his mother would be cackling with glee. He needed to squash this fast.

“We should get going,” Ben said. “You want a cupcake, right, Rachel?”

“Yes, please!”

“I feel like I have to mention that sugar at this time of the late afternoon really isn’t good for the child,” Greta said. “Or for anyone else either.”

“But doesn’t sugar help the medicine go down?” Jenna asked with mock innocence. “Maybe in your case it’ll help sweeten up your disposition.”

Greta’s eyes bulged.

Mom started laughing.

“Oh look, they’ve got muffins, too. Good luck with the ribbon-cutting,” Ben called to Jenna over his shoulder as he dragged away his little family, including a sputtering Greta.

A few minutes later, Rachel was digging into a cupcake while Greta warned her not to get icing on her new dress.

“That woman,” Mom seethed, not bothering to lower her voice.

Ben waited till Greta took Rachel to the bathroom to say, “Okay, I get it. Once we’re all settled, Greta’s out of here.”

“Why not now?” Mom demanded.

“Because you’re still going back and forth between here and Hopalinka, and I have work to do. Neither of us has the time to devote to Rachel full-time yet.”

“I hate it when you’re right.” Her gaze settled across the room to Jenna who appeared to be in the middle of an animated conversation with another woman. “Don’t think that your little muffin distraction is going to make me forget about Jenna.”