Folding Hearts (Mitchell Family #2)(6)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Close your eyes..do not lick your lips.

“We are not really related. Look at me and be honest. So…….I need to know if I look hot? Do you think he will want me?”

If he doesn’t than he is a fool.

She was too close. I could smell whatever she had put on her body and it smelled delicious. I wanted to lick her skin. Her tits were pressed together in her shirt and I had to put my hands into fists to keep from reaching up and trying to touch them. I couldn’t do this, for so many reasons. She was something I could never want and never have. I stopped staring at her tits and looked straight into those beautiful blue eyes.

Oh God that was just as bad. “We are family. I can’t answer that.”

She stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Picture me as someone else then. If I had a bag over my head and you didn’t know it was me would you want to hit it?”

I laughed out loud.

God, her use of words were killing me. “Miranda you look really hot. I am sure you will have a fantastic night.” I smiled and tried not to look at her rocking body anymore. It was wrong to look at her the way I was. She was just so beautiful. No wonder Van felt threatened, even when she was pregnant. Now we were such good friends. In fact, I knew too much about her to look at her like I was.

“Tonight has to work,” she said as she looked down at her chest and adjusted them once more, in front of me.

“What do you mean?” I was curious.

“He won’t take our future seriously. All Tucker wants to do is run around with his friends and get into trouble. I need him to be here for Bella and I.”

“What exactly did he do to get into trouble?” It was more like what hadn’t he done.

She looked at her fingernails and avoided eye contact. “He stole metal from scrap yards and then took it back in for cash the next day. He would do it at different places and eventually they caught on to his scheme.”

“Sounds like it isn’t a big deal.”

“Do you have any idea how much copper is worth? Some of the yards give almost three dollars a pound for clean copper. Some days he was makin’ over a grand. I think that is how they caught him. They recognized the copper. Large amounts of it are easy to spot.”

“Sounds stupid.”

She gave me a dirty look. “Everyone makes mistakes Ty.”

“You are right. Sorry. I just can’t see having a baby at home and risking it all for a few bucks. Has he ever just looked at her and saw how perfect she is?” I could see it and she wasn’t even my kid.

I overstepped my place, but it was obvious I was crazy about that kid. I had held her mother’s hand in the back of that car and let her head rest on my lap as she pushed. I had brushed away her tears when she cried in pain and been the one to tell her she would be okay. Izzy’s birth was so special to me.

Obviously I made her mad. She shook her head and wouldn’t answer.

“Good luck,” I said looking down and noticing that Izzy was crawling away. I jumped down and followed her acting like a dog. She crawled faster and made excited coos as she tried to get away.

“I guess I will see you in the morning?” She asked.

“Sounds good.” I grabbed Izzy and held her up to face her mother. “Tell Mommy you love her,” I said against her cheek.

Miranda leaned in and took a kiss from her daughter. Her face was so close to mine that I breathed in her sweet scent again. “You smell nice.” I said as she walked away.

I couldn’t help watching her leave. That there was the finest ass I had ever seen. Tucker was a f**king fool. I’d lost the love of my life and I would never get her back, I knew it, but damn he had a family. How could he ignore that?

She really did look totally hot and she didn’t need a paper bag over her head for me to see it. I shook off the urge to chase after her and instead spent the rest of the evening with my favorite little girl.

Sometime later Lucy came in to check on us, but I had already changed Izzy and given her a bottle. The old woman gave me a raised eyebrow and took a second look at the sleeping baby on my chest. She walked away shaking her head claiming she would be back down to check on us later. I got myself comfortable and made sure both of my arms were securely wrapped around her before closing my eyes for a short nap myself.

Chapter 5

Miranda

It was already dark when I left to head to Charlie’s house. He lived in a small trailer in the middle of nowhere. It had become the local party house on weekends because the cops would never get called. I was so nervous about seeing Tucker. I had missed him so much.

After spending almost an hour getting ready and seeing the look on Ty’s face when I leaned over, I knew I looked hot enough to prove my point tonight. My friends always said ‘if you got it flaunt it’, well that is what I planned to do tonight.

When I pulled up into the driveway, I noticed the slew of cars already parked in the driveway. After checking myself in the rearview mirror one last time I climbed out of the car. I knew for a fact I would be totally overdressed, but that was the point.

The commotion of the party was coming from the backyard, so I headed in that direction. I couldn’t help but notice half of the voices were female. Tucker had told me it was just the guys tonight. My cheeks instantly flushed with anger. This wasn’t the first time he had lied to me about being around other women. As I made the turn around the back of the trailer I started looking for Tucker. I heard whistles and realized they could see my figure, but didn’t notice who I was yet. I kept walking toward the crowd. Charlie and Nick, Tucker’s two best friends stood up and headed in my direction.

“Miranda? What are you doin’ here?” Nick asked, almost preventing me from looking past them.

“What do you think I am doin’ here? I want to have a good time. Where is my man?”

Charlie was giving me a once over and licking his lips. I waved my hand in front of his face. “Hello? Up here.”

“Sorry, you just…well you look hot Miranda. I guess I haven’t seen you in a while. You sure do look different,” Charlie stuttered out.

“Thanks, but I am here to see Tucker. Where is he? I saw his car out front.”

I pushed past them and they followed trying to say something, but I ignored them. He clearly wasn’t outside so I headed for the trailer.

“Miranda..WAIT!” Charlie yelled behind me. He ran up in front of me. “He isn’t inside.”

Just as I started to believe him, the back door flew open. Tucker was laughing with his beer in one hand and a redhead’s ass in his other.