Page 122 of Small Town, Big Storm

“For the record, there’s plenty to hold,” Shep says with a wink.

She groans, her head tipping up to the sky.“Men.”

“Yup,” Holly singsongs.“Men!”

“Also, just for the record,” Shep goes on, completely nonplussed.“A black belt?That’s seriously impressive.”

Clover rolls her eyes.

“Will you teach me your jujitsu ways, darlin’?”He waggles his brows.“I’d love to learn.”

“You would?”she asks suspiciously.

“Yup.”He pops the P.“Especially since I’m guessing it involves lots of rolling around on the floor together, our hands in all sorts of inappropriate places.”

I smother my laughter.

The man’s incorrigible.

But he’s also hilarious.

Clover leans in, her eyes flashing with fury.“You are sofu?—”

I clear my throat again.

She clenches her hands at her sides, exhales slow and steady.“Annoying,” she grits out.

“I think you meant to say awesome,” he says.

Snap!

I can actually see the final strand of Clover’s control break, and she takes a step toward him, those jujitsu skills a heartbeat away from being used.

Shep seems to sense it too because he reaches for the hem of his shirt and whips it over his head.

Clover chokes.

Ichoke.

The man’s body is…

Well, Greek god comes to mind.

“What are you doing?”she rasps out.

“Swimming,” he says.

Holly stops her skipping, looks at him with befuddled eyes.“But there’s no pool, Uncle Shep.”

Clover and I exchange a look.UncleShep?

But he doesn’t miss a beat with that either.

“Yeah, there is,” he says and tosses his shirt aside before “diving” into the pool.

Holly giggles and joins him, and the two loons goof around “swimming” on the overgrown grass.

“Do I want to know?”I hear as they roll back and forth, arms stroking and legs kicking.