Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Baby girl, that’s a word that only grown-ups should say.”
“Why?” She tilts her head to the side. “Is it a curse word?”
“No, but it’s still a word that only adults should use. You can’t go around saying… what you said,” he stumbles.
“Fine, but we’re adding that word to the bad word list. My piggy bank is hungry, Daddy.”
“Deal.” Declan gives her a one-armed hug and kisses her cheek before standing and moving toward his wife.
“I’m so sorry.” I hear Scarlett tell them. “This is my fault.”
“Nah.” Declan gives her a kind smile. “She’s a sponge, and if I told you some of the things that kid comes up with, you’d know this is normal Blakely. She keeps us on her toes.”
“Oh, you mean her wiener pants?” Kennedy laughs.
“What?” Scarlett looks stunned.
“Remind me to fill you in another time,” Kennedy tells her. “My list of things Blakely says is ever growing.”
“Besides,” Brooks speaks up, taking Remi from Scarlett’s arms, “we’ve all taught her bad words.” He shrugs. “We had to learn to clean up our act when she was born.” He tickles Remi’s belly, and she giggles. “I’m certain this little one is going to be the same way. It’s hard not to be when she has all these uncles around. It’s not a big deal,” he assures her.
“I’ll do better.” Scarlett has so much conviction in her voice that anyone would believe her.
“Mommy, can we ride go-karts?” Blakely asks as she stands and pushes all of her new gifts to the side of the table.
“Sure, sweetie. You have to wait on us to come with you.”
“I’ll grab an uncle,” Blakely tells her mom. She reaches for Sterling’s hand and begins to lead him to the door. “Come on. Let’s race!” she says excitedly.
“You need four more,” Kennedy calls after her.
“Why four more?” Scarlett asks.
“They’re not tall enough to ride on their own. They have to be in a kart with an adult. We debated on having the party here, but we figured we have enough adults or man-children that we could make it work,” Kennedy explains.
“What can I do to help?” Scarlett asks.
“Actually,” Palmer speaks up, “do you mind taking this?” She holds her camera that’s hanging around her neck up in the air. “I need to get this one down for her nap, and I don’t want to miss this.”
“Absolutely.” Scarlett’s eyes light up at the possibility of having a camera in her hands. “Anything particular you want me to capture?”
“Everything,” Kennedy and Palmer say at the same time.
Kennedy chuckles. “We love pictures, and there are a lot of us, so we like to spread them out among us. We’re kind of spoiled having a professional photographer in the family, and now we have two.” She winks at Scarlett, and I’d give anything to know what that shared look between them means, and since when is Kennedy saying that Scarlett is a part of our family? Sure, we’re a big group, and we’d gladly bring her into the fold, but there’s something inside me, something I’ve never felt before. Something that’s screaming that if Scarlett is a part of this family, she’ll be mine.
She’s not mine.
I need to keep reminding myself of that.
The lines are starting to blur.
I’m very aware that I’m the one blurring them. I never realized that it would be this incredibly difficult to resist the temptation that is Scarlett Hatfield. She’s this addictive little spitfire that I can’t stop thinking about.
“Go, Blake!” I call out to her. She’s riding with Ryder, and they’re currently in the lead. Her little hands are gripping her steering wheel, which does nothing to steer the cart, but by the determined look on her face, you would think that it does.
“Look at this one.” Scarlett, who is standing next to me at the fence, leans over and shows me the back of Palmer’s camera that she’s using. “Look at her grin.”
“She loves this,” I tell her. I try not to stare at Scarlett like a creeper, even though I want to. I could watch her for hours. I might have made it a point to stand back and see where she ended up to get the best shots just so I could stand next to her.
I just need one more time with her, and I’ll have her out of my system. Sex with Scarlett is the best of my life. That has to be what this is.
“I can see that. The way she likes pink, I was surprised this is where her party was held.”
“She’s a tomboy who loves pink and loves dolls and makeup. She was raised by ten men and my mom. Well, Alyssa was around a lot, too, but mostly men. We did the best we could.”
“You all did a fantastic job. She’s a happy, well-adjusted little girl.” She pauses. “Where was Kennedy?”