Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series) by Tori Brooks Page A

that made her worry for a new set of reasons. Flynn was known for being a ladies ’ man. Although Teri didn’t see any sign of interest from him. For that matter, she half expected him to be trying to pick up on her and he wasn’t. It wasn’t that long ago that he expressed interest. Since then he’d given his marriage another go, and threw in the towel. That bothered her a little. But he wasn’t chasing skirt in her house, so she decided not to worry about it. For now, he was working wonders with the kids. The boys were certainly fighting a lot less than before, he made sure they did their homework, and even Jess seemed to be settling down a bit in his dating routing.
    The doorbell rang. “I ’ll get it,” Teri waved them back down to their seats and wiped her hands on a towel as she walked to the door.
    “Hi , Mrs. Giles. Is Kenny around?”
    “Sure , Alicia. Come on in.” Teri motioned her toward the dining room and returned to the dishes.
    Kenny greeted Alicia with barely a glance and introduced Flynn. Alicia recognized him and smiled with big brown eyes. Flynn gave her one of his famous smiles.
    Teri imagined he was sizing up Alicia. Long blond hair in a sloppy ponytail, little turned up nose, her slight figure was hidden behind worn jeans and a sweatshirt. A cute package, although hopefully he realized she was too young and interested in Kenny. Although Kenny was oblivious.
    Alicia and Kenny slid into an easy banter and they retreated downstairs, leaving Flynn at the table. He walked over to the kitchen bar to face her as she finished loading the dishwasher.
    “Teri? Can I talk to you a moment? ” Flynn’s tone switched Teri’s musings from idle thoughts to alarm. She nodded, and Flynn motioned her into the living room.
    “What ’s wrong?” Teri asked as she sat down.
    “Possibly nothing. First , tell me about Alicia and Kenny.”
    Teri exhaled in relief. Flynn did see Alicia’s interest in Kenny. “They’ve been friends since grade school. Kenny’s all wrapped up in his music and probably wouldn’t spare Alicia a second glance except she plays the cello. No, wait, not cello. What’s the bigger one?”
    “Bass. ”
    “That ’s it. Anyway, she comes around every now and again between boyfriends to see if Kenny’s ready to notice her yet.”
    “How long has this been going on? ”
    “A couple of years , at least. One of these days Kenny’s going to figure out Alicia’s a young woman. It better be soon or it won’t matter. Alicia’s been taking classes at a community college and just got accepted to college out of state.”
    “Not ideal , but interesting,” Flynn said. “If you see a chance to let me talk to Alicia one-on-one, I’d appreciate a hand.”
    “All right. Now , what did you originally want to see me about?”
    Flynn paused for a moment. “Dev goes to New York every couple of months.”
    Teri groaned. She didn ’t want to think about that.
    “I suspected as much. Listen , we still have a couple of weeks. Nicholas and I talked about it, and we think it’d be a better idea if I took Dev.”
    “ You ?”
    “I can handle a single fifteen year old , don’t sound so surprised. You’re out of the running. Nicholas doesn’t want to be left here with the kids.”
    “Meaning he doesn ’t want me in New York.”
    “Do you want to be there? Specifically , do you want your first trip back to be with your son on a tight schedule? Facing those memories? If you go, I’m going too because I don’t see it as a good idea.”
    Teri looked away and nodded, not wanting to face him. She felt like she’d been pretty good lately. She still cried at night, but not like she used to. She got up, got dressed, did the dishes. Now she was threatening to break down again. A tissue appeared in front of her. She smiled and took it.
    “So , it’s either Nicholas, Tim, or me. Nicholas is your support here, I really don’t want him leaving. Tim will make time, I already have time. I’m also