She raised her gaze up his chest to his eyes. She’d been caught. She could act mortified and guilty or lie. “I was checking out your shoes.”
He chuckled silently. “You were checking out my package.”
Or she could admit it. “It was a long drive.” She shrugged. “I’ll go get our things out of the car.”
John stepped in front of her. “I’ll get your stuff.”
“Thank you.”
He slid the door open. “You’re welcome,” he said though an arrogant smile, and walked across the living room.
“Hey, John!” Lexie hollered, and ran past her mother, leaving Georgeanne to follow behind them both. “I brung my roller skates. And guess what.”
“What?”
“My mom bought me new Barbie knee pads.”
“Barbie?”
“Yeah.”
He opened the front door. “Cool.”
“And guess what else.”
“What?”
“I gots new sunglasses.” She took the blue frames from the bridge of her nose and held them up in the air. “See?”
John turned toward her. “Hey, those are real nice.” He stopped and stared into her face. “Are you going to wear all that purple stuff while you’re here?” he asked, referring to her liberal application of eye shadow.
She nodded. “I get to wear it on Saturdays and Sundays.”
He walked to the back of the Hyundai and said, “Maybe, since you’re on vacation, you could take a break from wearing all that makeup.”
“No way. I like it. It’s my most favorite thing.”
“I thought dogs and cats were your most favorite.”
“Well, makeup is my most favorite thing that I can have.”
His sigh was heavy with resignation as he took two suitcases and a duffel bag of toys from the backseat of the car. “Is this all?” he asked.
Georgeanne smiled and unlocked the trunk.
“Jesus,” John swore as he stared at three more suitcases, two yellow rain slickers, one big umbrella, and a Barbie Beauty Parlor. “Did you pack your whole house?”
“This has been condensed several times since the original load,” she told him, and reached for the jackets and umbrella. “Please don’t swear in front of Lexie.”
“Did I swear?” John asked, looking innocent.
Georgeanne nodded.
Lexie giggled and grabbed her Barbie Beauty Parlor.
Georgeanne and Lexie followed him back into the house and downstairs. He showed them to a guest room decorated in shades of beige and green, then he left to retrieve their luggage. When he’d carried in all their things, he gave a quick tour of the lower floor. A room filled with free weights and exercise equipment separated the guest room from the master bedroom.
“I need to take a shower,” John told them as they headed into the hall after Lexie’s inspection of all three bathrooms. “When I get out, we can go look in tide pools if you want.”