Page 33 of Pinch of Love

A somewhat spastic and tiny little beast with a twitchy tail and big eyes sounded kind of like the Maya I knew.

“Hey, now. That’s no way to get to second base,” Maya teased.

“I think with the view I had when I rolled in here, I’ve already hit a home run.”

She chuckled, which made her hips wiggle a bit.

“From the looks of it, you’re completely hinged over, right? So, you can see straight down the chute.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Wow. That took some doing.”

“I do yoga.”

“Apparently.” I bit my bottom lip and shook my head.

I was a professional.

I cracked my fingers and cocked my head from side to side before shrugging my shoulders.

“Okay, I’m going to slide my hands along your hips and help bend you back out of the hole.”

“What about Chippy?” she asked, sounding panicked.

“First, I rescue you, and then I rescue Chippy.”

She huffed. “I don’t need rescuing.”

Millie’s voice shot up the chute. “Like hell, you don’t.”

Maya chuckled as I edged in closer. “Okay, fine. Maybe at this particular juncture, I need a lending hand.”

“Or two,” Millie shouted again.

I smiled to myself and shook my head, wishing the view wasn’t going to come to an end. “Okay. I’m going to come in slowly with my hands.”

The moment I touched her, I felt her body stiffen and then soften. “You have big hands.”

“Thanks,” I said gruffly, knowing Millie was memorizing every interaction between Maya and me.

“I swear I didn’t do this on purpose.”

“I don’t think you could replicate this if you tried,” I said gently, wiggling my hands up her waist. “Can you roll your shoulders over a little?” I tugged a little.

“Like this?”

The moment her words hit the air, I pulled her out and fell backward with her landing on top of me. She shot up instantly and dusted herself off while also tugging on her skirt.

“Thank you.” Her cheeks flushed as she ran her palms over her dark hair that now stood on its edge from static. “Now, what about Chippy?”

As if on cue, I heard a ferocious bark, and Millie squealed as something smacked.

“Oh, no.” I darted past Maya and dashed down the basement stairs to see Chewie barking her head off with the chipmunk in a prone position, praying for its life, while Millie tried desperately to hold onto my four-pound pointer.

Maya dashed right behind me, nearly shoving me over when she saw her grandma, my dog, and her rescue chipmunk in a Wisconsin standoff.

Chewie quieted her barks while Chippy—I mean, the chipmunk—played possum.