Read Online My Mr. Manny by Jennifer Garcia - Free Book Online Page B

and looked at the sign she had so painstakingly made for him. I had written the letters on a separate piece of paper so she could copy them and write the sign herself. Then, she’d drawn flowers all around the letters, with a sun and bird at the top of the paper. She had taped two eight-by-eleven inch sheets of paper together to make it bigger. It was colorful and very pretty.
    “It is so beautiful, Lucia. I love it so much. I’ll keep it in my room,” Dominic said in the sweetest tone.
    Her curls bounced around while she clapped in excitement. She loved attention — most of all, male attention. I knew she wanted to make him proud, and I could tell by the look on his face that he was.
    “Lucia, why don’t you take Dominic to his room so he can set his things in there? I’m sure he wants to wash up and relax while I make us some lunch,” I said. Then I looked at Dominic and asked, “You’re hungry, right?” I nodded over exaggeratedly to get him to agree.
    “Yeah, sure. I’ll just go and put my things away,” he said, picking up his bags and following Lucia to his room.
    ~*~*~
    The three of us sat around the kitchen bar comfortably and ate our sandwiches.
    “How was your flight?” I asked before I popped a chip in my mouth.
    “Long, but good. Happy to be here, though,” Dominic said with a chuckle that resembled his brother’s.
    “Momma, can I have some more milk, please?” Lucia asked. She must have been hungry; she’d eaten most of her sandwich and drunk all her milk.
    “Sure, baby.” I pulled the milk from the refrigerator and filled her glass again.
    “Thanks.” She took a huge sip of her milk and was left with a big milk mustache. Lucia knew it, too, because she smiled so wide it stretched across her face. She was in a silly mood.
    “Dominic, what kinds of fun things are we going to do after I get out of school?” she asked him with her broad grin. Giggles were about to burst from my mouth, but I tried to hold them in.
    When he heard his name, Dominic looked at Lucia and noticed her mustache. He sucked his lips into his mouth to hold in his laughter. Once he had himself under control, he answered her. “Well, I’m not sure yet. I think you have ballet and homework; we’ll have to figure the rest out together. How does that sound?”
    With her forefinger tapping on her bottom lip in deep thought, she let out a sigh. “I guess so, but we’ll have to find fun things to do.”
    “Here, wipe your mouth, silly girl.” I handed her a napkin with a laugh.
    “But, Mo-om , I like my mustache. Look — he has a little one,” she said, pointing. Lucia was right. Dominic had some slight stubble on his lip and down his jaw. It was kind of sexy.
    “Don’t point. And that’s enough. Clean yourself up and finish your milk, please,” I said, putting an end to her growing silliness.
    Dominic wiped his mouth and placed his crumbled napkin on his plate. His stood to walk his dish around the bar to the sink, but I stopped him.
    “No, I’ll do that.” I gently took the plate from his hand.
    He tried to pull it back, but I wouldn’t give in.
    “But I need to learn my way around here,” he said with determination, and it sounded quite sexy.
    I laughed because he was so cute. “Don’t worry. You’ll find everything in no time. The place isn’t that big, and you’ll be here all day. But today, I want you to relax. I’m sure you were up early to catch your flight.”
    With the plate in my hand, I felt smug for getting my way. Who knew how it would go after he’d been here for a while and got comfortable? Resigned, he sat at the bar again. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him watching me while I worked around the kitchen. I didn’t look him in the eye, because I didn’t want him to know I’d seen.
    “Yeah, I guess. I hate flying, though. Remind me to not do that too often. Oh, and by the way, I had some boxes shipped here a few days ago. Just a few things I didn’t want to leave behind.