The Hot New Single Dad Next Door (Welcome to Kiss County #2)

Chapter 3

3

LOTTIE

S cott smiles as he looks me up and down. “Are you stalking me?” he asks.

“No!” I say.

“Because I wouldn’t mind if you were. Nice dress.”

I scoff. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to meet my new neighbor,” I say.

“Oh, okay!” He takes a step back. “Sure. I’ll go get him.”

I exhale, relieved. “Thank god.”

“One moment, please.” Scott closes the door, then immediately opens it again. “Hi!”

My posture sinks. “You’re the hot new single dad next door?!” I ask.

His smirk curls upward. “I think I’m really gonna like Small Town.”

“No,” I say, wagging my head back and forth. “This is unacceptable. You can’t buy this house!”

“But I did,” he says. “See, people own stuff. And sometimes, they put it up for sale so other people can buy it from them… and then they own it instead. This is how the world works.”

“I know how the world works,” I growl.

“Do you? Because you seem to have problems with this concept.”

“The only problem I have is with?—”

“Daddy?”

I swallow my insult as a little girl walks up behind him and tugs on his pant leg.

“It’s all right, sweetie,” Scott says to her, his hand softly resting on her head. “Come meet the new neighbors.”

A smile touches my face. She’s a little smaller than my Liam with curly black hair and bright blue eyes. “Hello,” I say sweetly.

She hides behind his leg.

“This is my son, Liam,” I say, giving Liam a pat on the shoulder. “Liam, you want to say hi?”

He hesitates for a second, then says, “Hi.”

“Go on, Sonya,” Scott urges her with a smile.

She looks up. “Hi.”

Scott lowers to his knee. “This is my daughter, Sonya,” he says.

“How old is she?” I ask.

He rubs her arm. “How old are you, Sonya?” he asks her.

She holds up her hand, showing four fingers.

“Four years old, huh?” I say. “Liam is four, too. Aren’t you, honey?”

He doesn’t reply.

Scott stands up. “So, what’s in the basket?” he asks me.

“Oh.” I shift it on my arm. “I just... I made some muffins.”

“Muffins?”

“A batch of mini muffins.”

“What kind?”

“Blueberry.”

“I like blueberry. Thank you.”

“I’m not giving them to you now,” I say.

Scott smirks. “No?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you stole my bakery!”

“I didn’t steal your bakery,” he says. “I bought my barbershop.”

“Same thing.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is!”

“Come on, Lottie. Don’t be petty. Surely you won’t deny a father a taste of your delicious treats in front of his adorable daughter, would you?” he teases, throwing my words back at me.

I glare, but soften it as I look at Sonya. Bending down, I extend the basket toward her. “Would you like a muffin?” I ask.

She hesitates, her eyes growing wide.

“Go on,” Scott says to her. “You can have one.”

Sonya’s little eyes shift between me and Liam as she slinks forward and reaches out for a muffin.

“What do we say, Sonya?” Scott asks.

“Thank you,” she says.

I smile. Damn, she really is adorable. “You’re very welcome, Sonya,” I say,

As I stand up, Scott tries to take one, too.

I pull the basket back. “You don’t get one.”

“That’s not very neighborly of you.”

“Yeah, well, neither is stealing.”

Scott raises a brow. “At least leave the basket. No reason to deprive an innocent child of baked goods just because you have a grudge.”

I resist a moment longer, then reluctantly offer him the basket. He takes it. “You can’t have any,” I say. “They’re for her.”

“Okay.”

“All of them.” I give her another smile, unable to help myself. “She’s very cute,” I say.

“Thanks,” he says. “Your kid is, too.”

“Thanks.”

“He could use a haircut, though.”

“Oh, piss off.”

I take Liam’s hand and we march back across the street to our house.

As we reach my lawn, I glance back over my shoulder to see Scott still standing in his open doorway.

Smiling.