Irresistible, Susan Mallery [mini ebook reader txt] 📗

smile, but her gaze locked on Elissa and Zoe. “You made it.”

“Hey, Dani.” He paused and urged Zoe in front of him, then put his hand on Elissa’s back. “This is Elissa. She lives in my building. And her daughter, Zoe.”

Dani’s smiled widened. “Wow. Okay. Nice to meet you. Come in. Everyone else is here. Hey, guys, it’s Walker. And he brought a friend.”

Elissa groaned, then elbowed Walker in the ribs. “You didn’t tell them you were bringing me?”

“Penny always makes more than enough food,” he said, obviously confused about her dismay.

“It’s not about food,” she muttered, wondering if it was good news to realize that in some things, Walker was just as clueless as every other man on earth.

He escorted her and Zoe into a large open living room filled with presents and trays of food. Two men stood by a table. They looked enough like Walker for her to guess their identity.

A very pregnant auburn-haired woman waddled in. “A friend,” she said, then stopped when she spotted Elissa and Zoe. “How nice.” She smiled. “I’m Penny Buchanan. Oh, goodie. You brought me presents.”

Despite her nerves, Elissa found herself laughing. “Congratulations on the baby,” she said as she handed over her two boxes.

“Thank you.” Penny eyed the box Walker held. “That looks big enough to be a car seat.”

“You said it’s what you wanted,” he said, sounding slightly uncomfortable.

“And it is. Come on,” Penny said, taking Elissa’s arm. “You met Dani already. This is Reid,” she said, pointing to the man on the right. “And Cal, my husband. This is Elissa and Zoe. Walker’s friends.”

“So we heard,” Cal said pleasantly and shook her hand. “Welcome.”

“Thank you.” Elissa turned her attention to the other man and froze. He looked familiar. Incredibly familiar. The name clicked. “Oh my God. You’re Reid Buchanan.”

The Reid Buchanan. A Seattle native who had pitched major league baseball for ten years. He’d quit last season because of a blown shoulder. She still remembered—

“Hey, baby,” he said smoothly.

Eek! She’d worked at a restaurant long enough to recognize that particular tone of voice. It came from a man who assumed a woman was interested. Uh-oh.

She carefully took a step back and leaned against Walker. “I’ve always been a bit of a baseball fan,” she said. “This year I’ve been too busy to follow the season much, but usually I’m right there on my sofa, cheering.”

Cal chuckled. “Nicely done, Elissa. Good deflection, quick recovery.” He lightly punched Reid in the arm. “You gotta get over yourself, guy. Not every woman wants to be with you.”

Reid shrugged good-naturedly. “Most of them do.”

Elissa looked at Zoe, who was listening intently, and held in a groan. Hopefully her five-year-old would miss the nuance of the conversation.

Penny bent down to Zoe. “I’ve made margaritas for everyone else. They’re a grown-up drink I don’t think you’d like. But I also made these really cool berry slushies. I thought I was going to have to drink them all by myself, but maybe you could try one and if you like it, you’ll have some.”

Zoe nodded tentatively.

Penny straightened and held out her hand. “Why don’t you and your mom come into the kitchen and you can have a taste?”

“Okay.”

Zoe took Penny’s hand. Elissa followed them and everyone trailed along behind.

Dozens of delicious smells filled the bright kitchen. While Penny poured a bright red drink from a blender into a glass, she glanced at the stove.

“Dani, give the front two pots a stir, will you? Cal, honey, check the bread in the oven. It should be toasted by now. Pull it out and put in the pastries. Reid, I need fifteen minutes on the timer. Elissa, are you up to zesting? I need one orange and three limes zested. Everything is in that bowl. Walker, there’s a couple of big flank steaks on the counter. Could you cube them, please?”

In a matter of seconds, everyone was hard at work. Elissa zested her limes elbow-to-elbow with Walker.

“She really knows her way around a kitchen, huh?” Elissa said in a whisper.

“She could have been an Admiral,” Walker murmured back. “Penny knows how to be in charge.”

Elissa glanced at the pregnant woman who sat at the small table with Zoe. They were both sipping their bright red drinks. Zoe giggled at something Penny said.

This was nice, Elissa thought. Walker’s family might be wealthy, but they were just like everyone else. No one seemed to be in competition with Gloria for an evil witch award, which was comforting. She was having a good time and even more important, Zoe was getting out and seeing a big family in action.

Elissa thought of her own family. They’d been on her mind ever since she’d found out Bobby was trying to get in touch with her. Sometimes she understood why her parents had made the decision they had, and sometimes she wondered why they couldn’t love her enough to give her a second chance. They were missing out on their own grandchild. Zoe was growing up and these years could never be recaptured.

It had been their decision, she reminded herself. Their loss. Only now, watching the love and affection in Walker’s family, she understood it was her loss, too.

“SHE’S NICE,” DANI SAID, coming up to stand behind Walker as they watched Penny open a huge box her friend Naomi had sent.

“I think so.”

“I like her daughter, too.”

He looked at Zoe, who sat at her mother’s feet watching intently as the presents were opened.

“She’s a good kid.”

“I’m glad you’re dating,” Dani said.

“I’m not.”

His sister leaned close. “You can pretend all you want, big brother, but you have it bad.”

“At the risk of sounding like an eight-year-old, do not.”

“You can lie to yourself all you want, but don’t lie to me. It’s all there. The way you watch her, the way she watches you. We can all feel the heat.”

He didn’t bother to tell her that heat wasn’t a relationship. Of course he wanted Elissa—what man wouldn’t? She was an irresistible combination of sweetness, intelligence and