What I didn’t anticipate, however, was the heated look of appreciation in Teddy’s eyes when I walked inside the restaurant. Her nostrils flared and her jaw clenched because, yeah, she was that hot for me. Thank goodness, at least I had that when it came to Teddy.
“Ladies, I hope you didn’t have to wait too long?”
“We’ve only placed our drink orders,” Teddy replied stiffly, and I knew that despite the heated look when I walked in, her walls were firmly back in place. “Rosie ordered you a lemonade.”
“Pink lemonade,” she clarified with a wide smile. “You’ll love it.”
“I have no doubt about it, Princess. What are you having to eat?”
Rosie tapped her chin in thought, something she’d picked up from Antonio. “Cheesy spaghetti with bacon.”
I smiled wide. “A princess after my own heart. How about I get chicken parm and we can share?”
Her big brown eyes widened with excitement. “I love chicken parm!”
“Me too, and I’ve never had cheesy spaghetti before, so it’s perfect.” I turned a smile to Teddy, who gave me a strange look. “And what are you having, Aunt Teddy?”
“Shrimp alfredo,” she answered easily, but the words came without a smile.
“Tired?”
“Nope.”
“Bored?”
She smiled. “With Rosie around? Never.”
I nodded knowingly. “Hot and bothered, then. Sorry, but I thought Rosie would appreciate the tie.”
Her lips twitched for a few moments and then a laugh broke the tension. The sound was sexy and free, throaty and full of amusement.
“That must be the only explanation, of course.”
“Of course.” I flashed my best flirtatious smile at Teddy and she responded in kind. She might be wary of me, but I was wearing her down, one encounter at a time.
Teddy
“We can be twins!” Cal showed off the napkin he’d tucked in his collar to avoid spilling the tomato sauce on his white shirt, but I knew it wasn’t for his benefit and that only made the frustrating man even more endearing. He held another napkin up in front of Rosie, making it dance until she giggled. “And it won’t ruin your pretty dress.”
Rosie was skeptical. The last thing she wanted on her big girl’s lunch was to look like a little girl, and in her mind, nothing screamed little girl more than a bib.
“I dunno, Uncle Cal.”
“Come on, Princess. Would you rather look silly while you eat or have a stained dress for the rest of time?” She still didn’t look convinced, and he shrugged. “I guess princesses aren’t the leaders I thought they were.”
“Leader?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Princesses are fashion icons; they do what they want and other people want to be just like them. If another girl sees Princess Rosie wearing a napkin to protect her clothes, she’ll know it’s alright to do it even if you look a little silly.”
Rosie mulled it over for a long moment and nodded. “Okay. We can be twins.”
And just like that, another small piece of me liked Cal a little bit more. His arrogance was easy to resist, but this part of him, the doting uncle and the caring man? He was as irresistible as the charming smile Cal kept flashing at me when he caught me staring. “And you can keep your pretty dress clean for another wear.”
Rosie looked at him the same way every female on the planet did, like he’d hung the moon and named it after her. “I can wear it when we have our next tea party!” She danced in her seat at the prospect of getting Cal dressed up in his Sunday best to drink fake tea with her and her tiara-clad dolls.
Cal froze and snuck a glance at me as if to see whether or not I’d heard Rosie and I quickly made it clear that I had.
“You’ll have to make sure you find a pocket square the exact shade of pink as her dress,” I pointed out.
A laugh burst out of me at the pained groan he let out.
“A kind woman wouldn’t have mentioned it.”
I shrugged. “Who said I was a kind woman?”
I’d been called plenty of things during my lifetime, most of which was spent in Jackson’s Ridge. Most people called me a good girl, a nice girl, even a helpful girl from some of the older women in town. Some still remembered me as the gangly tomboy with her nose stuck in a book and who constantly tripped over legs that were too long for her body. But I couldn’t recall one instance of being called a kind woman.
“Uh-oh, I think we lost your Aunt Teddy.” Cal’s voice was filled with amusement and when I risked a look at him, his eyes were lit with mischief. His overly loud stage whisper produced a giggle from Rosie.
“She does that sometimes.”
Cal gave an exaggerated nod and stroked his chin knowingly. “She’s probably thinking about how handsome I’ll look at our tea party and wondering how she can get an invite.”