The Playboy's Proposal (Sorensen Family) by Ashlee Mallory Page A

her clothes when Ella pulled on Henry’s arm. “I’m hungry. Can we stop at the place with the funny hats and get corn dogs?”
    It was about that time, he supposed. Henry, however, hadn’t had a corn dog in God knew how many years, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to break that record just yet. “We definitely should eat. But is a corn dog really what you want? The Cheesecake Factory is right around the corner and—”
    Ella scrunched up her pert nose. “It always stinks in there, and it takes forever to get our food. Please, Uncle Henry? I just want a corn dog.” The kid’s voice had taken on a high, whiny tone that was drawing a few heads turned their way.
    Benny took the receipt and dropped it in the bag. “Seriously? Are corn dogs beneath Henry Ellison? Ella, for being such a good sport, how about I take you to the food court and buy us each a corn dog while your uncle goes and waits for a table for one at the restaurant.”
    “Yes!” the little girl shouted. “And can I have an Orange Julius, too?”
    “Don’t push your luck, Ella,” Henry interrupted. “But I can see I’ve been outvoted. To the food court we go.”
    Ella apparently knew the way and skipped ahead. Benny followed, dressed in a new pair of jeans and a pretty white blouse with some embroidery along the neckline. He took a moment to appreciate the wider hips and backside she’d been hiding away under bulky cotton fabric before he caught what he was doing and settled on the back of her neck and that darn scruffy ponytail.
    Over corn dogs and too-sweet lemonade, Ella chattered away about her excitement at starting school next month and the friend she’d already made. “Will my mom be there my first day?” she asked wistfully and peered up at him.
    Benny shot him a curious look but didn’t say anything, just sipped from her straw. “I’m sure she’ll try her hardest.”
    “Yeah.” But Ella didn’t sound like she believed it, the sadness almost heartbreaking. He really needed to have a long-overdue talk with his sister. Soon.
    “And if for some reason she can’t be, how would you feel if I took you myself?” he offered. “Would that make you feel better?”
    She smiled, her baby teeth shining back at him. “Of course, Uncle Henry.”
    Ah, she could really tug at his emotions. He glanced up to find Benny still sucking her drink through her straw, but this time her eyes as she looked at him were curious and…almost soft.
    Before he said anything else to embarrass himself, he bit into the greasy corn dog, and looked away.
    …
    Benny had been home about two hours, all her new purchases hung or folded nicely and a glass of wine in hand, when someone knocked on her front door.
    She glanced down, realizing that for once, the soft fabric of the jeans hadn’t bothered her enough to require that she tear them off and slide into her usual pajamas or scrubs, and that she was still in them. And presentable.
    “Wow. Can’t get enough of me, huh?” she asked when she opened the door to Henry’s handsome face. “I’m kind of too beat to go over the fine art of flirting with you tonight.”
    “It’s Ella,” he said, and she instantly dropped the teasing and went on alert. “She was only asleep for maybe an hour and woke up screaming. She wants her mom, and no amount of talking with her has calmed her down.”
    “Have you tried calling her mom?” Benny asked, already pulling the door behind her, making sure it was left unlocked, and followed barefoot down the hall.
    “No answer,” he said tightly. “Then she wanted you.”
    How could Benny’s heart not twinge just a little at that?
    They entered his place, and the first thing she noticed was the soft lighting and Dean Martin playing through the speakers. Then she heard the faint sound of crying. Henry led the way, and she realized as they passed his decked-out kitchen—and she’d thought hers was nice—and two closed bedroom doors that his place was much bigger than she’d