“Why are you so excited, princess?” I asked.
She covered her mouth and giggled. “I can’t tell you! It’s a secret between me and Uncle Malcolm.”
The air in the room changed and I placed my hand over my stomach when it dropped at the sight of him.
He was dressed in jeans, boots and a light-grey T-shirt that showed every single muscle he had. His messy, dark hair looked like he had just gotten out of the shower and ruffled it with his hand. Oh lord . . . then there was the scruff he had started wearing. Even with the added walking cane, he was hot as hell and made my panties wet.
God broke the hotter-than-hell mold when he made Malcolm. My eyes drifted over his body. The tattoos that stretched over his arm made me think of the Christina Aguilera song, ‘Candy Man’. And man oh man would I love to taste that candy.
“I don’t think you could eye fuck my brother any harder if you tried,” Autumn whispered in my ear as I felt my cheeks heat. Tearing my eyes from him, I looked at her as she laughed and I gave her a light push.
“Shut up,” I said while placing my hands over my cheeks to cool my face down. When I looked back at Malcolm, he was watching me. He slowly smiled and his damn dimple showed up just in time to push me damn near over the ledge.
I swear the sexual tension between us was going to blow and when it did, I didn’t picture sweet and romantic. No . . . it was going to be more like fast, hard, and sweaty.
“Oh lord,” I mumbled under my breath as I turned away from him.
Sophie took my hand in hers and pulled me. “We need to go buy you a pretty dress, Paislie, for the ball.”
Peeking through my eyelashes at Malcolm, he shrugged and shook his head.
“Well ladies, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go see what I can do to help with the . . . ball.”
He shot Autumn a smirk as she gave him the finger without Sophie seeing. When Malcolm walked by, he stopped and looked at Autumn. “By the way, your child repeats everything you say.”
A horrified look washed over Autumn’s face as I giggled. “What did she say?”
“That Paislie was going to shit her pants when she saw me in my tux.”
My breath stalled. “Tux?” Holy shit. Malcolm in a tux. I can’t even right now. I’m in hotness overload.
Malcolm’s blue eyes pinned me in place. “Yep,” he said like it was nothing. Malcolm laughed as he headed to the living room and outside where they were setting everything up.
“Honestly, the party is more for the parents than the kids. That’s sad to say, but there it is,” Autumn said as she took me by the arm and led me to her room upstairs.
“Paislie is going to wear one of Mommy’s gowns, Soph.”
Sophie clapped and took off upstairs.
“Wow. I was happy if I just got a happy birthday!” I said as we headed upstairs.
Autumn sighed. “I know. It’s terrible how spoiled she is, but damn it’s fun!”
Three hours later I was putting the last bobby pin in my brown hair. I decided to put it up in a French twist with a few curls hanging down to frame my face. Leaning in closer to the mirror, I took in my features. My green eyes were filled with something I’d never seen before.
Hope.
At almost twenty-six years old, I never paid attention to what my eyes said. Elizabeth always said your eyes were the window to your soul. For so many years I saw nothing in my eyes, so eventually I stopped looking.
The knock on my bedroom door caused me to jump before making my way over to it. When I opened it, I glanced down to see bright blue eyes staring up at me with a gaped open mouth.
“You’re so pretty,” Sophie whispered in awe.
I bent down and placed my hands on her shoulders. “Not as pretty as you, though.” My finger curled around her black curl. Every time I looked at Sophie I imagined what Malcolm’s little girl would look like. Would it be too much of a dream to imagine children together?
Tears threatened as I pushed the thought away.
“Thank you, Paislie. I’m in charge of bringing you your party dress for the ball!”
The thrill of tonight’s adventures was heard in her sweet little voice. “Would you like to help me put it on?”
“Oh yes!” Sophie said skipping into my room and jumping up on the bed.
I hung up the red Versace gown and took a step back. The dress was gorgeous. I’d never worn anything so beautiful . . . or expensive. The dress hugged my figure with the tight bodice, but the flowing dress added a soft touch. The open back was just the right touch of sexy, but not too much. I thought it was too much, but Autumn reminded me the ball was more for the grownups so I went with it.
Opening my robe, I pushed it off my shoulders and heard Sophie gasp. Peeking over my shoulder, I winked. I totally forgot she was there.
Shit.
“Paislie! Where are your panties and what is that?”
Sophie pointed to the new garter belt I had bought the other day. Oh dear. It looked like I was about to give Sophie her first lesson in lingerie.