Fool That I Am Read Online Free Page A

Since
his Momma was a hairdresser, she usually was able to guilt him into her chair
about once a month.
    His eyes, though, were her Achilles’ heel. Like falling into
the ocean on a sunny day, his eyes ranged from robin’s egg blue, then to teal,
and finally, deepening to sapphire on the rims and they were framed by deep
laugh lines honestly earned over years due to good humor and easy laughter. His
face was tanned from days spent in the sun and a dusting of 5 o’clock shadow wreathed
his high cheekbones, plump lips, and strong chin. She could tell he showered
before he came over because his hair was still damp and he was wearing artfully
ripped jeans, a red plaid shirt, and his construction boots. He was utterly
delicious and Billie bit her tongue before she could tell him so.
    Placing her hand on her hip, she pointed her blunt-tipped
finger at him. “That right there is the exact reason you’re here tonight,” she
started, knowing he understood she was referring to the gift card. “We’re going
to have a serious discussion about money and boundaries, right after dinner.”
    “Cut me some slack, woman. I came here to visit my good
friend and my favorite godchildren, not for a lecture. Now be a good serving
wench and bring me a hot plate of dinner,” Sam demanded with a broad grin.
    Billie rolled her eyes good-naturedly and bent over to pull
the cookie sheet full of fish sticks out of the oven. Secretly, she hoped Sam
was checking out her behind, because she knew that it looked really good in
these jeans. “You better not let Renata hear you talk like that. From the few
times I met her, she seemed very liberal and outspoken.” She had also seemed
very beautiful and materialistic, but Billie would never point that out to Sam
for fear that it was her jealousy speaking.
    Running his hand absently through his hair, he replied,
“Well, that won’t be an issue anymore. We broke up a week ago.”
    She tried to keep her heart from rejoicing, because no
matter how she felt about him, he deserved to find a good woman who would love
him, treat him right, and give him children of his own. Sam was a special man
with a big heart and he would make some woman very happy…in bed and out.
    “Oh, no!” Billie exclaimed half-heartedly. “What happened? I
thought you two were really hitting it off.” She kept her back turned to plate
up the fish sticks and to guard her expression from his eagle eyes.
    A dark chuckle floated across the kitchen to tickle her ear.
“Come off it, Beej. You couldn’t stand Renata and you know it. I saw the look
on your face when she went off on one of her tangents about how men try to
suppress women in the workplace and how they just want women to stay at home
and have babies.”
    Setting the bowl of mac and cheese on the table with the
platter of fish, she scowled as she replied, “Don’t get me started, Sam. That
woman had a lot of nerve saying that crap when she was riding around in a car
her daddy bought her while taking Women’s Studies college classes he’s paying
for. She’s never worked a day in her life!”
    “I knew it!” he crowed in delight, reaching across
the table to snare a steaming fish stick. Popping it in his mouth, he
continued, “You’re too easy to read. It was doomed from the start, anyway. We’d
only been dating for three months and she was already talking about a ring and
which decorator to hire for my house.”
    Billie forced a smile she didn’t feel and decided to let the
subject drop by calling the kids to supper. They both came running to the table
after assuring their mother they had washed their hands. After a brief tussle
over seating arrangements, they all finally settled down to eat the modest
dinner.
    Even though Sam had come for dinner plenty of times over the
years, Billie never got tired of watching him interact with her kids. He was
patient and intuitive about their needs and switched seamlessly from talking
about Cinderella’s mice friends to