Page 95 of Guarded Deputy
“Game on, Murphy. I’ll be over later tonight with some dinner.”
“A man after my own heart.”
“Always.”
Feeling more positive about what happened earlier, I hang up and go inside to talk to Walker. I hope I’m still the owner of Best Uncle Award by the end of our conversation.
“Walker understood the situation. He was more upset that people were teasing us than us actually going out, although he asked if he’d have to call you Aunt Andrews instead of Miss Andrews.”
Lizzy chokes on her bite of pizza, covering her mouth as she sputters.
“What did you tell him?” Wide eyes stare at me.
I bite back my chuckle and shrug, leaning back on the couch. I’ll admit that Walker’s question caught me off-guard, but I recovered by laughing at his absurd question and explaining that he should continue to call her Miss Andrews.
“That we aren’t married so you aren’t his aunt.”
“That evenly?” Her eyes are still like saucers.
“I was surprised,” I admit. “But I understood his confusion.”
“Kids crack me up.” She shakes her head and wipes her hands on a napkin. “The pizza is great and all, but I do need to grade. That wasn’t an excuse.” She arches an eyebrow.
“Put me to work, boss.” I place my plate on top of the mostly empty pizza box sitting on the coffee table.
Lizzy snorts and fights back a smile.
“Too much enthusiasm?”
“Too muchfalseenthusiasm,“ she corrects.
“No such thing as false enthusiasm when I’m with you.” I grab her hips and pull her until she’s sitting on my lap. Brushing her hair away from her face, I smile and lean in for a kiss.
Lizzy relaxes against me as I kiss her slowly. When I feel her smile against my lips, I decide it’s the best experience of my life. Not true, actually. The look in her eyes as if I were the world’s best hero when I removed the lizard from her bathroom was the best experience. I felt like a king.
“We need to work,” she murmurs against my lips.
“You sure?”
“Yes.” She pushes back, but her smile is blinding. “Bad influence.” She scoffs.
“I call bad influence a good thing.” I wink.
“Okay, Mr. Deputy.”
“You hurt my feelings. It’s Mr. Hot Deputy toyou.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine, Mr.HotDeputy. Here is the list of the spelling words. Check mark if they’re spelled correctly, and an X if they’re not.”
“I’ve got it. I was a first grader once and had spelling tests.”
“Smart ass.” She laughs.
“But I’m a hot smart ass, right?”
“I’m going to starve your ego.”
“Don’t do that.” I pretend pout.