Sea Breeze 02 - Because of Low

enjoyed myself. The boy could cook. Larissa had long since finished her cereal and her chocolate milk. She was currently sitting on the floor with Marcus as he stacked up her blocks just so she could knock them down again. He’d moan and act like it was the worst thing ever that she’d knocked down his blocks causing her to giggle louder. He was sweet, he could cook, he was good with kids, he was smart, he had goals, he was freaking perfect. No doubt he’d make some country club daughter a very good husband. That thought felt like I’d just swallowed a brick.
    A knock on the door interrupted my dark thoughts and I stood up to go get it. Surely Tawny wasn’t already here. I wanted her to get groceries first. Larissa needed food.
    It wasn’t Tawny.
    Outside the door stood two girls exactly like the country club member I’d been picturing in my head as Marcus Hardy’s wife. Both were blonde, dressed in clothes I knew hadn’t been purchased at Target or thrift stores. One was by far the more beautiful out of the two. She was striking with long blond curls and blue eyes framed in thick black eyelashes. Lord please let that be Marcus’s sister. She was model perfect.
    “Hey, um, Willow right?” The less intimidating girl said. I forced a smile and nodded. Maybe they were here for Cage. That had to be it.
    “Is Marcus here?” My stomach fell.
    “Hey Manda everything okay,” Marcus said coming up behind me. Close enough so that his chest pressed against my back.
    The less intimidating one gave him a sad smile and shrugged, “Yes, as good as they can be.”
    Crap the gorgeous one wasn’t his sister.
    “Can we come in?” Amanda asked when Marcus didn’t step back allowing me to move.
    He paused a moment and I was beginning to get a weird vibe here.
    “Uh, well, um, I guess,” he stepped back from me and I quickly retreated to the floor to take over the job of entertaining Larissa.
    “Low this is my sister Amanda,” he motioned to the girl I’d already figured out was his sister, “Manda this is Low.”
    “It’s nice to meet you Low,” Amanda gave me a friendly smile then her eyes shifted to Larissa and I could see the questions in her eyes.
    “And the little princess over there tearing down my blocks is Larissa, Low’s niece.”
    The relief on Amanda’s face was obvious. I almost wanted to laugh. She’d been worried I had a kid.
    “Low this is a friend of mine, Sadie” Miss Perfect was the beholder of the musical voice from yesterday morning in the washroom. Fabulous. “Sadie this is Low.”
    Sadie stepped forward and squatted down to smile at me and then Larissa.
    “So you like tearing down blocks too, huh?” Larissa bobbed her head.
    “Well I’ve got a little brother at home who has just found the exact same thing entertaining.”
    Larissa knocked the blocks down and turned back to smile at Sadie as if she understood what the girl had said and wanted to show off.
    “You’re really good at that,” Sadie cooed. The girl was going to be really hard to dislike.
    Marcus walked over and sat down on the couch directly behind me. His foot pressed against my hip.
    “How’s Sam doing these days? Still a pretty boy?”
    Sadie laughed and her voice actually reminded me of soft tinkling bells. Ugh!
    “Sam is a handful and yes I’m afraid he’s only getting prettier. However, Jax is determined to make him a baseball player. The kid is seven months old and has more autographed baseballs and baseball bats than an actual collector.”
    Jax... Sadie... why do those names ring a bell?
    “I wouldn’t expect anything less with Jax Stone as his future brother-in-law.”
    My jaw dropped open. This was her. The girl. The one who Jax Stone, the hottest rocker in the freaking world had fallen in love with this summer. Oh. My. God.
    “Doesn’t mean he has to spoil him,” Sadie chimed in reply.
    Marcus began playing with my hair and I forgot all about being star struck.
    I began stacking the blocks again hoping no one noticed my flushed cheeks from Marcus’s attention.
    “Mom’s fixing lunch and wants us to go eat with her today. She has some things she wants to talk to us about. Sadie brought me here so you and I could ride together. She’s on her way to the airport.”
    Marcus hand paused a moment then went back to wrapping strands of my hair around his fingers.
    “Yeah, okay.”
    I chanced a glance over at Amanda and she was watching Marcus play with my hair with an amused grin on her