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“I don’t get offended when I get written up as the Bad Boy of MMA. I don’t ask the reporters to call me the Bad Man of MMA,” Kade reasoned.

The corners of her perfect lips pulled up into a whisper of a grin. “Yeah, because that sounds like you’re some kind of child predator.”

“Exactly. So how does a woman’s day sound?”

Her small grin bloomed into a full blown smile. “Like it should be on a commercial for menopause medication. Or adult diapers.”

That was one thing he’d always loved about Ali. She’d never had an issue admitting when he had a point, even if it contradicted hers. From the time Ali was old enough to talk, their dynamic consisted of mostly bickering and challenging one another. His favorite part was that neither of them had a problem admitting when the other got the best of them. If anything, they enjoyed being bested by a worthy opponent.

“So, Jess will pick you up for a girlfriend’s day in thirty minutes.”

“She can’t. I have Amos coming to the shop and I have to get—”

“I already talked to Amos,” Kade interjected.

“You talked to Amos?”

“Yep. He called this morning to say that he was sick and wasn’t going to be able to make it until Monday. I told him that was fine and that I’d go ahead and call Gil Simmons to get a bid on the work and since he still owed me a favor for setting him up with his now wife for junior prom, and I was pretty sure he’d cut me a good deal.”

Gil was Amos’s only competition in Whisper Lake. At least he had been the last time Kade had been in town. It was a bluff since Kade hadn’t actually set Misty and Gil up together directly. It was more indirectly since he’d dumped her the week before the dance.

“You can’t do that!” Ali shot back. “Amos has been our guy for decades and he’s sick.”

“He didn’t look too sick when the boys and I saw him packing his ice chest and rods in the back of his pickup before sunrise.”

Ali’s caramel eyes lit up with amusement. “He caught a bad case of gone-fishing-itis?”

“He did, but it seems he’s made a miraculous recovery because after a minute of grumbling he said he’d see you at the rental office at noon, just like you’d arranged. But I told him that you were playing hooky and that I would meet him there.”

“But I can’t. I still have so much to do.” She looked around the laundry room as if all of the tasks she needed to accomplish were there. “Next week is spring—”

“—break,” Kade finished. “I know. And I also know that after the season starts, you’re not going to be able to take a day like this off. You deserve a break, Ali. And unless you want to be wearing a Garfield shirt and cutoff sweat shorts for your girls’ day, you better hustle, woman.”

Her left cheek hollowed as she bit the inside of her lip. It was a decision-making tick she had. He knew that she wanted to take him up on his offer but she was fighting herself. Weighing the pros and cons.

“You know what, let’s do this the Walsh way.” Kade made a fist with his hand and hovered it over his palm.

Her lips pursed for a moment and then in true Walsh form, she got into rock-paper-scissors formation. Something Ali didn’t know was that Kade had studied Ali’s game over the years. He’d witnessed she didn’t have a poker, or in this case, a Roshambo face.

If she was going paper, her eyes squinted. When she went rock her nose flared. For scissors, she would blink. It wasn’t an exact science but they were fairly reliable tells.

They hit their hands to their palms three times and he saw her nose flare so he laid his hand flat. His paper beat her rock.

“Best two out of three,” she instantly challenged.

“You do realize that you’re betting against taking a day off?”

“Best two out of three,” she reiterated without a moment’s hesitation.

“Fine.”

He knew he was taking a gamble, but he decided to throw the second round anyway. Her nose flared again but he went scissors. Her rock beat his scissors. She let out a victory “whoop” and he knew he’d done the right thing. If she lost by a landslide, it would’ve put a damper on her excitement for the day. She was that competitive.

In round three, Ali blinked and he went with rock. His rock beat her scissors.

The tip of her nose twitched as she scrunched it in defeat. It was damn adorable and Kade wanted to tell her but he refrained.

“Alright, loser—”


Tags: Melanie Shawn Whisper Lake Romance