Crazy on You Read Online Free Page A

Tucker to shreds. She stared at him as she spoke to her child. “I called your name twice.”
    “Sorry.” The kid dribbled the ball. “I was practicing my shots.”
    “Go eat your breakfast. Your waffles are getting cold.”
    “I have to practice.”
    “Basketball season is over until next year.”
    “That’s why I have to practice. To get better.”
    “You have to go eat. Right now.”
    Pippen gave a long suffering sigh and tossed the ball to Tucker. “You can play if you want.”
    He didn’t, but he caught the ball. “Thanks. See ya around, Pippen.”
    As the kid stormed past his mother, she reached out and grabbed him. She hugged him close and kissed the top of his head. “You don’t have to be the best at everything, Pip.” She pulled back and looked into his eyes. “I love you bigger than the sun and stars.”
    “I know.”
    “Forever and ever. Always.” She moved her palms to his cheek. “You’re a good boy”—she smiled into his upturned face—“with dirty hands. Wash them when you go inside.”
    Tucker looked at her slim hands on the boy’s cheeks and temples, cupping his ears. Her nails were red and her skin looked soft. A thin blue vein lined her wrist and disappeared beneath the cuff of her red wool coat. The chilly air in his lungs burned. “Go inside or you’ll freeze your ears off.”
    “My nuts.”
    Uh-oh.
    “What?”
    “I’ll freeze my nuts off.” He glanced behind his shoulder and laughed. “Tucker said it’s so cold out here I’ll freeze my nuts off.”
    Her gaze cut to his and one brow rose up her forehead. “Charming.” She ran her fingers through her son’s short hair. “Go eat before your waffles are as cold as your . . . ears.” The kid took off and she folded her arms across her chest. The curlers in her hair should have made her look ridiculous. They didn’t. They made him want to watch her take them out. It was silly, and he dribbled the ball instead of thinking about her hair. “You must be the new neighbor.”
    “Tucker Matthews.” He stuck the ball under one arm and offered his free hand. She looked at it for several heartbeats then shook it. Her skin was as warm and soft as it looked; he wondered what her palm would feel like on the side of his face. Then he wondered why he was wondering about her at all.
    “Lily Darlington.” Her blue eyes stared into his, and she obviously didn’t recognize him from the night before. She took her hand back and slid it into her pocket. “I’m sure you’re perfectly nice, but I’m very protective and I don’t let just any man around my son.”
    That was wise, he supposed. “Are you worried about me doing something to your kid?”
    She shook her head. “Not worried. Just letting you know that I protect Pip.”
    Then maybe she shouldn’t have named him Pip because that was just a guaranteed ass-kicking. Then again, this was Texas. The rule for names in Texas was different from the rest of the country. A guy named Guppy couldn’t exactly beat the crap out of a Pip. “I’m not going to hurt your kid.” He folded his arms and rocked back on his heels.
    “Just so we’re clear, if you even think about hurting one hair on his head, I’ll kill you and not lose a wink of sleep over it.”
    For some perverse reason, the threat made him like her. “You don’t even know me.”
    “I know that you’re playing basketball with a ten-year-old at nine o’clock in the morning,” she said, her accent thick with warning. “It’s about thirty-two degrees, and you’re talking about your freezing nuts with my son. That’s not exactly normal behavior for an adult man.”
    Since she obviously lived alone, he had to wonder if she knew anything about normal behavior for an adult man. “I’m playing basketball and freezing my nuts off so I can get some sleep. I just got off work and your kid’s basketball keeps me awake. I thought if I played a game of H - O - R - S - E, he’d cut me a break.” That was close