“
Keri answered the door, looking frazzled and not having the best hair day he’d ever seen. “Hi, Sean. I was just thinking, gee, I need more Kowalskis in my life right now.”
He laughed and stepped into the big foyer. “Baby acting up?”
“I thought the Kowalski men were royal pains in the ass—no offense—but you guys have nothing on the girls.”
“Joe writing?”
She blew out a sharp breath and put her hands on her hips. “No. Joe is pretending to write so I won’t dump Brianna in his lap, but he’s probably playing some stupid game.”
From the other room came a pissed-off howl that Sean hoped was their daughter and not a wild animal foraging for table scraps. “So he’s in his office?”
Keri nodded and waved a hand in that direction before making a growling sound and heading off to appease her daughter. Welcome to the jungle, he mused before heading to Joe’s office. He rapped twice on the door, then let himself in.
Joe looked up with a guilty start and Sean knew his wife had him all figured out. “She knows you’re only pretending to write so you don’t have to deal with the kid.”
“You know what really sucks? Everybody keeps saying to just wait till she’s older. Like it gets worse. How can it get worse?” Sean lifted his hands in a “don’t ask me” gesture. “For years I’ve been writing about boogeymen and the evil that lurks in the hearts of men. I had no idea there’s nothing scarier than a baby girl.”
Sean laughed. “She can’t be that bad. What does she weigh? Ten pounds?”
“Fifteen. But it’s fifteen pounds of foul temper and fouler smells. Trust me.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
Joe leaned back in his leather office chair and sighed. “Let’s talk about your life. She still on the couch?”
“Yes, she is.”
“Good. I said you’d last three weeks.”
Maybe, but Sean wouldn’t bet on it. Or he shouldn’t have bet on it, anyway. Especially a whole month. His balls ached just thinking about it. “You guys come up with a plan for the kids for Saturday yet?”
“Yeah, but it’s going to cost you.”
“Not a problem. I’ll just take it out of all the money I’m going to collect from you idiots at the end of the month.”
Joe grinned. “You keep telling yourself that, buddy.”
He was. With as much oomph as he could muster. And he’d probably keep telling himself that up to the minute he got Emma naked.
”
”