a package, which is a dollar more than you guys usually ask for,” Ben said. Even at this young age, money talked.
The girl’s smile grew, and then a woman came up behind her. She held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Coach Kaylie. That’s very generous of you. May I ask who these toys are for? There are a lot of them.” She didn’t look much older than the girl giving him a tough time.
“Toys for Tots,” Jake said, as he patted Ben on the back. “Our boy here picked them all out, but we need help wrapping them.”
“Terrific,” Kaylie said. “That’s so kind that you’re doing this for kids. Of course we’ll help you. And we really appreciate the donation. We’re trying to get to three different dance competitions this year, so every penny counts.” She batted her eyelashes at Jake.
This time Ben did chuckle. Jake had that effect on women. Never failed.
“Wonderful,” a woman’s voice said. He glanced down to see Ainsley. She was here, and she looked every bit as beautiful as she had the day before. He’d been sure his imagination had been playing tricks on him.
Today, she wore jeans and boots that came up to her knees. But it was the tight white sweater that nearly did him in. Her body was the stuff of fantasies. His fantasies.
Once again he found himself clearing his throat, and he positioned the bag he was carrying so no one would see the sudden tent in his pants.
Crap. Sad puppies. Old, crinkly people. He had to think of something that was not the beautiful woman beside him.
“Hi,” he said. Well, that was brilliant.
She beamed up at him. “I’ve brought the rest of your gifts. Got them first thing this morning. Since they’re for the nursing home, I asked the girls to put them in bags with tissue so it would be easier for those arthritic hands to open,” she said sweetly. “They should be just about finished with those.”
“You really do think of everything.”
“Part of the job.”
“Oh,” Kaylie said. “This is the guy you were talking about?”
“Yes,” Ainsley, said waving a hand to the group of kids wrapping at the tables behind the coach. There was now a bunch of boys, as well. “I’m glad you picked up some more volunteers.”
“Yeah, I never seem to have a hard time getting the football and basketball teams to help out the dancers. Though, keeping a constant eye on them isn’t always the easiest.” Kaylie laughed. “We should be done in about thirty minutes with the seniors’ gifts, and we’ll need a few hours for the tots.”
Brody groaned behind him.
“It’s okay, guys, if you want to go on home.” He turned back to Kaylie. “Can some of those players help me load the truck later?”
“Absolutely,” she said.
“I’ll stay,” Jake offered. “I don’t mind volunteering if you need help,” he said to Kaylie. “I’m not much good at wrapping, but I’m good at other things.”
Kaylie and Ainsley both roared with laughter.
“What?” Jake asked innocently. “I meant I can keep an eye on the players to make sure they aren’t trying to put the moves on these lovely young ladies.”
The dancers giggled and whispered to one another.
“I might take you up on that,” Kaylie said. “You two,” she called out, pointing to Ainsley and Ben, “go look around and come back in a couple of hours. We’ll have everything ready.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Brody said. “I’m going to search for Mari. Make sure she doesn’t need help with anything. Matt, I can give you a ride back.”
They waved goodbye and then left.
Ainsley crooked her arm through his. “Come on, Marine. I’ll buy you lunch and we can check out the booths. I have a few homemade gifts on my list. I might find them here.”
He’d walk across hot coals to spend a little time with her, so he could easily handle the loud noise of the craft fair a little longer. “Only if you let me buy,” he said.
“Sure. If you really want to.”
“Hey, you’ve donated a lot of time and like I said, I owe you a meal at the very least.”
“Whatever. Come on.”
He thought they’d head back to the parking lot. He planned on taking her somewhere nice. Instead, she pulled him through a maze of booths to reach the other end of the cafeteria.
“Hold up, you want to eat here?”
“Yes,” she said. “This booth has the best chili pies.”
She walked up to the window. “Who made the chili today?” she asked the elderly woman manning the cash box.
“Frank,” the woman replied. “He doesn’t let anyone else touch it. Doesn’t want to ruin his reputation. What can I get for you?”
“You are in for a treat,” Ainsley said to Ben. “Frank is an award-winning chili star. His daughter, Amber, is on the drill team. He’s pretty much the best thing about coming to the craft fair.”
She turned to the woman. “We need two chili pies and a Coke. And what do you want to drink?” she said to him.
“Water is good.” He didn’t drink a lot of soda. He tried to avoid sugar and he was careful about what he ate, too. Not that he had a lot of choice when he was deployed. You ate what the mess hall gave you or what was in your pack. But when he was stateside he ate fresh food whenever he could. He’d learned to cook when he was kid. It’d helped out his mom because she had to work so much of the time.
“You okay?” Ainsley was handing him a bottle of water.
“What? Yeah. Sorry. I’ve never had a chili pie.”
“No way. Fritos and chili and cheese. Best things ever. Are you some kind of health nut? Is that how you have that hot bod?” Her eyes flashed as if she’d realized what she’d just said.
“You think I’m hot?”
“Marine, everyone here thinks you’re hot.”
A grin spread across his face. “Uh, thanks. But I don’t think everyone’s looking at me, I have a feeling all eyes are on you. How could they not be? You’re gorgeous.”
She snorted. “You’re so polite.”
“You don’t know how beautiful you are, do you?”
She shrugged. “Don’t really think about it. Let’s go sit. Can’t believe I’m hanging out with a chili pie virgin. This is going to be fun.”
He nearly tripped when she said the word virgin. He picked up their drinks, so she could grab the cardboard containers with their food. The chili
