Page 13 of From the Start

“Why don’t you have children?” Pearl asks as she works.

“I don’t have a wife yet.” I won’t be the first person to explain to Pearl how it’s possible to have children without being married. Rhett would throw me off the cliff atMermaid Mystical Gardensif I explained the birds and the bees to his precious daughter.

“Why don’t you have a wife?”

“Ah, that’s a tough question.” I can hardly tell my adorable little niece, the woman I want doesn’t want me.

Harper. Merely thinking about her has my heartbeat speeding up and warmth spreading through my body.

Harper is beyond a doubt the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. She has shoulder-length brown hair and light blue eyes. Eyes, I’d love to watch flare with passion. When she smiles, she has a dimple on each cheek. Unfortunately, she doesn’t smile around me much.

And then there are her curves. She’s short but has curves in all the right places. My fingers itch to dig into her hips. And my mouth waters to taste her breasts.

But there’s more to Harper than her beauty. She’s wicked smart. The hardest worker I’ve ever met and I have three brothers who are workaholics. She’s tough and grumpy, but I’ve glimpsed a softer side of her. A softer side I’m determined to see more of.

“Uncle Kai!” Pearl yells before squirting sand into my face.

I bat the sand away. “Why are you attacking me?”

“You weren’t listening.”

“I was too listening.” I pick up my red bottle and squirt her top with it.

She squeals before gathering the sand on the paper and throwing it at me.

I punch my hand in the air. “This is war!”

Pearl giggles before jumping from her chair and racing away from me. I chase after her. The front door flies open and I freeze. Rhett is standing at the door, glaring at me.

“What are you doing back home?”

“Dakota forgot her purse.” He points at the table. “I told you no painting.”

“Technically, you said no paint.”

“And you decided to use colored sand in the house?” He stalks toward the table and picks up a piece of paper. “While using the quarterly report as your background.”

I cringe. “I assumed it was an old report. Who prints out reports anymore?”

Dakota walks inside. “What’s taking so long?” She glances around. “Oh.”

“Pearl started it.”

She fists her hands on her hips. “You’re blaming my five-year-old daughter for this mess?”

“Is this a trick question?”

She reaches down and picks Pearl up. “You can clean up this mess while we go for dinner.”

I survey the room. There’s sand all over the kitchen floor, as well as a trail of sand through the living room. I groan. I hate cleaning up. Who doesn’t?

“Bring me back a doggy bag?” I bat my lashes and do my best to appear innocent.

Dakota snorts. “There’s frozen pizza in the freezer.”

My nose wrinkles. “What am I? A destitute college student?”

Rhett hands me the vacuum cleaner as he passes me. “Don’t wake the baby.”