Read Online Stone: At Your Service (Carolina Bad Boys #1) by Rie Warren - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rie Warren
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to the gills with fast food and sugar.” I rolled my eyes.
“ Well, that’s what ol’ Jamma’s for.” I could nearly see her preening her sharply cut, silvery-white bobbed hair. “He’s just about to go down for a nap, and he wanted you to sing to him. Then later we’re gettin’ in the pool—”
I interrupted her. “Yeah, about the pool and letting him swim in the deep end—”
“ Shush it. You think I’d ever let anything happen to him? I gotta remind you I’ve got an extra set of eyes—”
“ In the back of your head, yeah, I know.” Just what I’d been thinking. “Is he there now?”
“ He’s wrestlin’ with Viper, that big old softie. Aren’t they a pair?” Ma made soft cooing noises. Anyone would think she was talking about JJ playing with a cute little kitten instead of an eighty-pound Rottie.
It didn ’t matter that the kid had Viper wrapped around his little finger, that shit flipped me right the fuck out. “Please go get him, Ma,” I gritted between clenched teeth.
“ JJ baby, Daddy’s on the phone. Don’t let Viper kiss you on the face, hon, she ain’t brushed her teeth today . . .”
Not to mention that they were big killer teeth. Fuckin ’ A. I was gonna have a heart attack during this trip, one way or the other.
I let loose a big sigh of relief when I heard the kid ’s breathless squeaky voice. “Hi, Daddy!”
My heart walloped in my chest. I smiled through the need to wrap him in my arms, keeping him safe from everything and everyone . . . including Viper the big softie . “Winding down for a nap?”
“ Jamma says I gotta.”
“ Jamma says I have to. ” I reminded him.
“’ S’what I said,” he complained with that teetering-on-the-edge whine.
“ That is not what you said.” I gentled my tone.
“ Daddy, why you talkin’ funny at me?”
Oh well, we ’d have to tackle grammar, sugar withdrawals, and dog avoidance behavior when I got home . . . after I hugged the almighty hell out of him. “I’ll just sing to you instead, huh?”
“ I like that best. And when you hug on me. And ice cream . . .” The sleepy ramble heralded an extra-long nap.
“ Me too, kid. Which song will it be this time?”
“ Not the scary lady with the horns,” he muttered, taking his decision very seriously. He’d be frowning and pulling at the cowlick on the crown of his head.
“ Got it. No scary Maleficent.” I didn’t do the chick parts very well anyway.
JJ hummed for about half a minute before shouting, “The Flynn one!”
I grumbled. That Flynn Rider dude was nothing but an itinerant playboy. I preferred the horse or the chameleon. “You’re doing Rapunzel.”
“ Mm hmm. ”
This one was pure schmaltzy romance , and I tried not to laugh as the kid mumbled through half his turn of “I See The Light”. I’d sat through the movies on repeat so many times they almost played in the background of my head, which could become really disturbing.
We finished on a warbled, half-out-of tune harmonization that definitely wasn’t our best work. I’d have to toss the Tangled DVD when the kid wasn’t looking.
While I still had him half-awake, I rattled off the same list of dos and don ’ts I had when Ma had picked him up Friday night. “Don’t forget to say please and thanks and ma’am.”
“ Uh huh.”
I heard him fading so I rushed, “And be careful in the pool and around Viper.”
“ Aw, Daddy. Viper wuvs me. Not as much as you and Uncle Wicky and Jamma, but she do.”
“ She does. ” I corrected him.
“ I know, ’s’what I said.”
My life had become all about semantics.
Ma came back on after the kid and I exchanged I love yous, which I managed to get through without my voice breaking. She yelled across the room, “Don’t let her lick your fingers, either!”
“ Dog cooties,” I murmured.
“ Whatsa-coochies?” She’d finished getting the kid’s fingers out of the mutt’s maw, presumably.
My eyes lit on the Book of Torment
“ Well, that’s what ol’ Jamma’s for.” I could nearly see her preening her sharply cut, silvery-white bobbed hair. “He’s just about to go down for a nap, and he wanted you to sing to him. Then later we’re gettin’ in the pool—”
I interrupted her. “Yeah, about the pool and letting him swim in the deep end—”
“ Shush it. You think I’d ever let anything happen to him? I gotta remind you I’ve got an extra set of eyes—”
“ In the back of your head, yeah, I know.” Just what I’d been thinking. “Is he there now?”
“ He’s wrestlin’ with Viper, that big old softie. Aren’t they a pair?” Ma made soft cooing noises. Anyone would think she was talking about JJ playing with a cute little kitten instead of an eighty-pound Rottie.
It didn ’t matter that the kid had Viper wrapped around his little finger, that shit flipped me right the fuck out. “Please go get him, Ma,” I gritted between clenched teeth.
“ JJ baby, Daddy’s on the phone. Don’t let Viper kiss you on the face, hon, she ain’t brushed her teeth today . . .”
Not to mention that they were big killer teeth. Fuckin ’ A. I was gonna have a heart attack during this trip, one way or the other.
I let loose a big sigh of relief when I heard the kid ’s breathless squeaky voice. “Hi, Daddy!”
My heart walloped in my chest. I smiled through the need to wrap him in my arms, keeping him safe from everything and everyone . . . including Viper the big softie . “Winding down for a nap?”
“ Jamma says I gotta.”
“ Jamma says I have to. ” I reminded him.
“’ S’what I said,” he complained with that teetering-on-the-edge whine.
“ That is not what you said.” I gentled my tone.
“ Daddy, why you talkin’ funny at me?”
Oh well, we ’d have to tackle grammar, sugar withdrawals, and dog avoidance behavior when I got home . . . after I hugged the almighty hell out of him. “I’ll just sing to you instead, huh?”
“ I like that best. And when you hug on me. And ice cream . . .” The sleepy ramble heralded an extra-long nap.
“ Me too, kid. Which song will it be this time?”
“ Not the scary lady with the horns,” he muttered, taking his decision very seriously. He’d be frowning and pulling at the cowlick on the crown of his head.
“ Got it. No scary Maleficent.” I didn’t do the chick parts very well anyway.
JJ hummed for about half a minute before shouting, “The Flynn one!”
I grumbled. That Flynn Rider dude was nothing but an itinerant playboy. I preferred the horse or the chameleon. “You’re doing Rapunzel.”
“ Mm hmm. ”
This one was pure schmaltzy romance , and I tried not to laugh as the kid mumbled through half his turn of “I See The Light”. I’d sat through the movies on repeat so many times they almost played in the background of my head, which could become really disturbing.
We finished on a warbled, half-out-of tune harmonization that definitely wasn’t our best work. I’d have to toss the Tangled DVD when the kid wasn’t looking.
While I still had him half-awake, I rattled off the same list of dos and don ’ts I had when Ma had picked him up Friday night. “Don’t forget to say please and thanks and ma’am.”
“ Uh huh.”
I heard him fading so I rushed, “And be careful in the pool and around Viper.”
“ Aw, Daddy. Viper wuvs me. Not as much as you and Uncle Wicky and Jamma, but she do.”
“ She does. ” I corrected him.
“ I know, ’s’what I said.”
My life had become all about semantics.
Ma came back on after the kid and I exchanged I love yous, which I managed to get through without my voice breaking. She yelled across the room, “Don’t let her lick your fingers, either!”
“ Dog cooties,” I murmured.
“ Whatsa-coochies?” She’d finished getting the kid’s fingers out of the mutt’s maw, presumably.
My eyes lit on the Book of Torment
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