Free The One You Want by Gena Showalter Page B

idiot.”
    Norrie gasped. “You said the
I
-word.”
    “Is that bad?”
    “Real bad. Get-grounded-for-a-month bad.”
    Great. “Maybe don’t mention to your mom that I said it.”
    “I won’t. Because she heard you for herself. Momma! You’re home!”
    * * *
    K ENNA CAUGHT HER daughter in her arms as Dane cursed and lifted his head out from under the sink. His hair was sexily rumpled and there was a streak of oil on his cheek.
    All of her girlie parts sizzled to instant life. He was here! And he was performing live and in-person girl porn—household tasks! “I didn’t expect to see you,” she said to Dane.
    “I’m going to my room,” Jessie Kay called. “Y’all do me a favor and argue loud enough so I can listen in without having to strain myself.”
    “If you want to listen,” Kenna called right back, “just stay in the living room.”
    “You know I’m not that rude.”
    “What are we going to argue about?” Norrie asked. “Uncle Dane saying the
I
-word?”
    He pulled at his collar and ignored the little girl. “I wanted to talk to you,” he said to Kenna, looking more uncomfortable than she’d ever seen him.
    Kenna realized she wasn’t upset that he’d introduced himself to Norrie. The introduction would have happened sooner or later, considering the upcoming wedding. But...she thought it was more than that. That she wanted to see him with her daughter...see how the two got along.
    Answer: not well. He wouldn’t even meet the girl’s gaze.
    The doorbell rang, saving her from having to think up a reply. Talk...about what? They’d said all they needed to say.
    “Pizza!” Norrie wiggled out of her arms.
    Pizza?
    Dane held up one finger and rushed to the door. He returned with—surprise, surprise—a pizza.
    “The Tomato Shack delivers now?” Kenna asked.
    “With the right incentive,” he muttered.
    Meaning money.
    While they ate, Norrie regaled Dane with stories about hair barrettes, dog poop and all the reasons sparkly unicorns just had to be real. Kenna had heard the stories before and faded in and out, trying to pretend Dane wasn’t in the room, looking edible.
    “Can we go now?” Norrie asked her.
    She didn’t have to ask where the girl was so eager to go. Sara’s house, to see the puppies. Kenna had been dreading this. Norrie would want one and beg, and Kenna would have to say no—always no—because they couldn’t afford to feed an animal. Not to mention the fact that they were rarely home.
    “Go get cleaned up first.”
    Norrie rushed off.
    “I don’t just mean stick your hands under the water,” Kenna called. “Use soap and then brush your teeth.”
    “Duh! I’m not a germ farm!”
    “She’s...unique,” Dane said.
    “In the best possible way,” Kenna snapped.
    He held up his arms. “I know. I wasn’t saying otherwise.”
    An awkward silence settled between them.
    “So...were you able to open lines of communization with your professor?” he asked.
    She closed her eyes for a moment, wondering what Norrie had told him. But she already knew the answer, didn’t she? Norrie had told him everything she knew.
    “Yes and no. I found out I had been dropped from my classes, so all the work I’d done was a waste.” Was that bitterness in her tone? Probably. It wasn’t her fault the financial aid had failed to come in on time.
    “Why were you dropped?”
    Unwilling to answer, she waved the question away. “What did you want to talk to me about?” Then, “Before you answer that, I should probably warn you. I’m stressed and tired and not at my best. It might be better to postpone the communization if you don’t feel like fighting.”
    “Take her up on the offer,” Jessie Kay called through the wall. “She’s nasty when she’s stressed.”
    Kenna banged on the wall, shouting, “No one asked your opinion, so zip it!”
    Jessie Kay’s reply was a triumphant, “See!”
    “We won’t fight,” Dane said, voice soft but confident. “I came here to