Page 63 of Her Summer Hope

“Give it here,” she said.

She snapped the waistband around her waist and then picked Em up and settled her into the pouch on the front. She adjusted the shoulder straps and turned her back to Murdock.

“Can you fasten this?”

“Is this contraption even safe for her?” Murdock grumbled. “Seems like you should have some more straps somewhere.”

She heard the door open again and even before she turned, she knew Kyle had just walked into the room.

She smelled his spicy forest scent on the air, and her entire body was tingling from head to toe. Her thoughts whirled rapidly and she wondered if it was too late to run out the door.

Why was she so nervous about this?

“Hey, Madison. Glad you came,” he said smiling. “And this must be Emma,” he said, eyes sparkling as he smiled down at Emmie in the carrier.

She looked up at him with wide eyes before smiling and shoving her fist into her mouth.

Madison knew she had about twenty minutes to work on the food before she would need to feed her.

“I’ll get these on the grill if you want to finish the other stuff, Madison,” Aiden said.

She heard the others leave the room and then it was just them.

She didn’t get a chance to reply before he was gone and Kyle was staring at her with a look so foreign and so significant that she couldn’t even comprehend it. She had no idea what it meant, and she didn’t know if she wanted to.

“Thanks for coming,” he said, washing his hands and then taking Emmie’s little waving fist.

He smiled despite himself and she wanted to melt when he caressed the baby’s little cheek, seemingly enraptured by the infant.

“Do you want kids?” she blurted out before she could think better of it.

Oh God.

Why did she ask him that? She was mortified.

He looked stricken and took his hand back, crossing his arms. He looked down at the food that she had begun preparing.

“I don’t know. Never thought about it,” he said, looking out the window.

She got the feeling that he was lying.

“I’ll let you get this going. I’d like you to come outside when you’re finished. Join us for a burger and maybe a game or two.”

She held her breath and smiled uncertainly. “Sure.”

More interaction meant more chances to screw up and get her lies all tangled up.

She whipped up a pasta salad and some summer veggies from Murdock’s garden for the grill. The men seemed to expect french fries if the two ten-pound bags of frozen curly fries on the counter were any indication.

She went over to the deep fryer and saw that someone had already turned it on. She was a bit intimidated by it, having only ever used a small-scale version at home. This was a restaurant-sized machine.

She looked down at Emmie in her carrier and felt uneasy about using a huge deep fryer with her baby on her chest.

“Hey, Mads?” Wyatt called out, shoving his head in the kitchen.

She spun around and he walked in from the deck with a beer in hand. He looked relaxed and happy, like always.

“Yeah?”