Read Online What Love Sounds Like by Alissa Callen - Free Book Online Page A

attention back to her own ice-cream. She tasted a cold mouthful. Beside her Tilly continued to watch Kade, her own ice-cream forming a forgotten rainbow puddle in her bowl. Mia’s heart bled. Tilly remained concerned her uncle would still leave. She had to ease the little girl’s anxiety.
    ‘Kade, I still can’t believe you don’t like Fairy Surprise Sprinkles. Maybe I should have bought the Wicked Wizard Sprinkles, but even I draw the line at eating tiny, warty, green toads.’
    Tilly giggled, her little shoulders relaxed and she began eating her ice-cream.
    Kade didn’t comment. Instead he whisked off the container lid and, despite Mia’s words of reassurance, he examined the contents as if looking in a waterhole for dangerous objects.
    ‘Coward,’ she said.
    Teeth, as white as the tub of plain, safe, ice-cream in Kade’s hands, flashed in a broad grin.
    Mia stared. Her spoon halfway to her mouth.
    Kade had just smiled. Not a remote-smile, an almost-smile or even a half -mile. But a full, unguarded smile. At her.
    The ice-cream on her spoon slipped. Too late she raised her bowl. The rainbow-blob fell onto her chest and then with inexorable slowness slid beneath her dress to fill the sensitive valley between her breasts. Her lids closed.
    Please don’t let Kade have noticed.
    Her eyes opened to his large hand offering her a red napkin.
    ‘Need any help?’ His grin again flashed white.
    ‘No. Thanks.’
    She reached for a serviette from the pile on the rug and took two attempts to pick up the napkin. Kade’s rare smile had left her more light-headed than any outback heatstroke. She stripped all breathlessness from her voice and fought for composure. ‘This is something I can handle on my own.’
    He chuckled softly. ‘Coward.’
    Kade’s amusement vanished as quickly as the ice-cream had disappeared beneath the top of Mia’s dress. Strain corded the muscles in his neck. So much for putting an end to her and Tilly’s unproductive fun. He couldn’t be around Mia for longer than two minutes before his focus melted.
    If he’d thought she looked a pretty picture from his office window, up close she was stunning. She’d swapped her formal shirts and trousers for a cooler, casual sundress. Every so often the right strap would slide down her slender shoulder and the dress front would dip a little lower.
    He swallowed a large helping of vanilla ice-cream, uncaring that it would numb his palate. It didn’t matter if Tilly turned her sad eyes on him, he had to leave. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that Mia had become his new personal kryptonite. One gentle question about his childhood and personal information had left his lips at a rate of knots. One brush of her fingers against his hand and all reason vanished. One spoonful of renegade ice-cream and business contracts were the last thing on his mind.
    He placed his spoon into his empty bowl and stood. Mia placed the serviette in the basket and rose to her feet too. The breeze moulded her dress against her. Her wayward strap again slid down her right shoulder.
    ‘Kade,’ she said, voice quiet, ‘when will Tilly see you again?’
    He glanced at his niece who was busy stacking the used bowls and placing them into the picnic basket. ‘I’m not sure. I’ve work to do.’
    ’She misses you when you’re not around. It was a long two days for her.’
    Kade ignored the twinge of his conscience. He shrugged his shoulders and stepped off the rug. ‘I’m a busy man.’
    ‘What’s so important to keep you from a child who needs you?’
    ‘Ten million worth of dollar signs.’ Even as he uttered the glib words he knew he was out of line. They might be normal talk in the corporate jungle but they had no place at an outback ice-cream picnic.
    ‘I see.’ Disgust pressed her lips together.
    What was so wrong with being driven? Money gave him options and was a tangible measure of his success. Neither life, nor his own father, had ever given him cause