Free Taking Chances (The Chances and Choices Duology - Book 1 of 2 - Contemporary Romance) by Ann Omasta

dinner had even been served, and I started stammering my way through an
explanation. Seth gallantly saved me by saying he had wanted to leave early,
due to a headache. Thankfully, she seemed to buy that.

 
    Janice told me to make myself at home and glided
off to check on the caterers. I shook my head, pondering the idea that anyone
had caterers for a weekly family brunch. It was beginning to feel like I had
somehow stumbled my way into the Kennedy compound, yet they all seemed so
down-to-earth and likable, with one glaring exception.

 
    Sam was making his way towards us when a little
girl came running to him at full speed. “Kit Kat!” he said, as he picked her up
to twirl her around, both of them beaming. That’s
kind of likable, I admitted, grumbling silently to myself.

 
    Jessie walked up the path, carrying a Barbie
backpack. “Abby, I‘m so glad you’re here,” she said, smiling kindly. Then she
leaned in to whisper, “It will give me a break from having to attempt to make
small talk with the latest ‘I’ girl.” She snickered, nodding her head to the
left.

 
    I followed her eyes and saw the longest,
tannest, most perfect pair of legs I’d ever seen sticking out from a lounge
chair by the pool. I couldn’t see the rest of her from my angle, but could only
assume that these gorgeous legs belonged to Sam’s date. I don’t know why my stomach
did a little flip-flop at that idea.

 
    Sam set the little girl down and she quickly ran
over to greet Seth. He kneeled down to her level and said, “How’s my little Katiedid today?”

 
    I watched her telling him about her adventures,
since she had last seen him. She talked animatedly, and he seemed to hang on
every word. The little girl had huge blue eyes and long blond hair. She didn’t
look like her dark-haired mother and uncles, but she had inherited their
striking beauty.

 
    Suddenly, she took notice of me. “Who’s that?”
she demanded.

 
    Jessie jumped in to answer. “Katie, this is
Uncle Seth’s date, Abby.”

 
    Katie squinted her eyes, looking me over, then
gave a ‘ hmph ’ and asked Seth
to push her on the swing. He gave my hand a squeeze, before following the little
girl to do her bidding.

 
    Her mother chuckled and said, “Don’t mind her.
She’s just not used to Seth bringing women around. That’s usually Sam’s forte.
She’ll warm up to you once she gets to know you,” she reassured me. “She
doesn’t usually bother with Sam’s friends because he never keeps them around
long enough for us to get to know them.”

 
    I wondered why Seth didn’t bring women around
more often, but Sam walked up to join us, so I didn’t have a chance to ask.
“Hello, ladies,” he greeted his sister and me, slinging an arm casually around
Jessie.

 
    Before we could answer, the blonde goddess in
the lounge chair bellowed, “Sam Darling, the wait staff hasn’t bothered to
check on me. I’m parched. Would you be a dear and have someone fetch me a
mojito?”

 
    “Of course,” he responded and turned on his heel
to go track down someone.

 
    Jessie raised her eyebrows, but refrained from
saying anything about the exchange. She smiled as she watched Seth playing with
her daughter.

 
    “He’s really sweet with her,” I observed out
loud, thinking silently that he would make a terrific father someday.

 
    “He is,” she agreed. “They both are.” We watched
Sam personally deliver the requested mojito before walking back to where we
stood.

 
    “Are you a waiter now?” Jessie teased her brother.

 
    Sam shrugged a shoulder. “She likes to be
pampered, and I humor her.”

 
    The hair on my arms was already prickling from
being this close to him, so when his elbow brushed lightly against mine, I
almost jumped out of my skin. Did I hate
him so much that he literally made my skin crawl? I wondered. It didn’t
feel like hatred, though. As much as I wanted to dislike him, I knew that deep
down, I