His gaze snapped up to meet hers. S

His gaze snapped up to meet hers. She guessed not a lot of people called him out on his shit. “What do you mean?”
Tess rolled her eyes and flashed a piteous grin. “It’s not because you’re a single dad that they don’t like Barbies. If I had to guess, Jenny and Jane have always been active girls who like outside play. Did you play with a G.I. Joe or sit on the couch playing video games when you were their age? Or were you outside throwing or kicking something?”
His gaze remained steady as he contemplated her words. “I was an outside kid,” he replied after a moment. “Always.”
Tess gave him a soft smile. “They were probably born with the sports gene.”
“Do you like games, Tess? Or you a sit-on-the-couch sort of woman?”
Tess swallowed down the wave of lust that rose hot in her throat. It was downright criminal to have such dirty thoughts about a single dad. “Depends on who I’m on the couch with.”
Carter’s gaze warmed. His full lips parted and Tess held her breath as she waited for his next words.
“Dad! Come play with us!”
“Yeah, daddy! Come on!”
The spell was broken as Jenny and Jane called out to their dad to join them. Carter flashed an apologetic smile as he hustled down the stairs toward the lawn. In a graceful maneuver that boggled the mind, he swept the ball away from Jane’s feet and juggled it between his feet as he raced toward Jenny at the far end of the yard. Tess released her breath in a whoosh of air.
Wow. What would it be like to be a part of Carter Christensen’s life?
*   *   *

Dinner was great but honestly, Tess could have served him a steaming cow pie and Carter would have thought it was amazing. She’d known Jenny and Jane for less than a week and already realized that they’d rather play with a soccer ball than a Barbie doll. The girls already loved her, and his own infatuation with his next-door neighbor was steadily growing. Tess was smart, beautiful, laid back. She could barbeque a steak like a pro and served up Blue Moon IPA complete with the orange slice. And instead of calling it a night after the sun had set, she’d started a fire in the fire pit down by the lake and broke out all of the stuff for the girls to make s’mores. She was almost too good to be true.
“So, what made you want to leave New York for a run-down house in tiny Nacogdoches?”
“A cheating son of a bitch ex-boyfriend,” Tess replied. She popped a marshmallow onto the end of a sharpened willow branch and lowered it to the glowing embers of the fire. “He thought it was okay to sleep with my best friend, and I wasn’t so much on board with that.”
Carter couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to cheat on a woman like Tess. Her ex was obviously an idiot.
“Dad, we’re out of graham crackers,” Jane said.
“There are more in the kitchen on the counter,” Tess replied. “Go ahead and grab the whole box.”
The girls took off toward the house and Carter studied the nearly empty glass of IPA in his hand. “How long ago was that?”
“It’ll be nine months in June,” Tess said. “I lived in New York for a couple of months after we broke up. Then my dad called and said that Aunt Millie had passed. She left the house to me.” Tess let out a soft laugh. “I’d never even been here. I guess she figured she’d leave the place to the only person in the family young enough to deal with fixing it up. A quiet, small town felt like a good place to start over, so I packed up my stuff and left.”
Carter couldn’t help but be glad Millie Adams had seen fit to leave the place to her niece. “Not many job opportunities here, though.” A lot of the newer homes around the lake were second residences. Nacogdoches wasn’t exactly a career hub. The economy was more tourist-based.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Tatapan tersentak untuk memenuhi miliknya. Dia menduga tidak banyak orang yang memanggilnya keluar pada sial. "Apa maksudmu?"Tess memutar matanya dan berkelebat menyeringai piteous. "Hal ini bukan karena kau single dad bahwa mereka tidak suka Barbie. Jika saya harus menebak, Jenny dan Jane selalu aktif gadis yang suka di luar bermain. Apakah Anda bermain dengan GI Joe atau duduk di sofa bermain video game ketika Anda usia mereka? Atau apakah Anda di luar melemparkan atau menendang sesuatu?Tatapan tetap stabil karena ia merenungkan kata-katanya. "Aku adalah anak-anak di luar," Dia menjawab setelah beberapa saat. "Selalu."Tess memberinya senyum yang lembut. "Mereka mungkin dilahirkan dengan gen olahraga.""Apakah Anda suka permainan, Tess? Atau Anda duduk-di-sofa semacam wanita?Tess menelan ke bawah gelombang nafsu yang bangkit panas di tenggorokannya. Itu benar-benar kriminal untuk memiliki pikiran-pikiran kotor tentang single dad. "Tergantung pada siapa yang saya di sofa dengan."Carter tatapan hangat. Bibir penuh berpisah dan Tess diadakan dia napas ketika ia menunggu untuk kata berikutnya."Ayah! Mari bermain bersama kami!""Ya, ayah! Ayo!"Mantra rusak sebagai Jenny dan Jane memanggil ayah mereka untuk bergabung dengan mereka. Carter berkelebat apologetik tersenyum saat ia bergegas menuruni tangga menuju halaman. Dalam manuver anggun yang boggled pikiran, ia menyapu dan bola kaki Jane dan juggled antara kakinya seperti ia berlari menuju Jenny di ujung halaman. Tess dirilis nya napas dalam deru udara.Wow. What would it be like to be a part of Carter Christensen’s life?*   *   *Dinner was great but honestly, Tess could have served him a steaming cow pie and Carter would have thought it was amazing. She’d known Jenny and Jane for less than a week and already realized that they’d rather play with a soccer ball than a Barbie doll. The girls already loved her, and his own infatuation with his next-door neighbor was steadily growing. Tess was smart, beautiful, laid back. She could barbeque a steak like a pro and served up Blue Moon IPA complete with the orange slice. And instead of calling it a night after the sun had set, she’d started a fire in the fire pit down by the lake and broke out all of the stuff for the girls to make s’mores. She was almost too good to be true.“So, what made you want to leave New York for a run-down house in tiny Nacogdoches?”“A cheating son of a bitch ex-boyfriend,” Tess replied. She popped a marshmallow onto the end of a sharpened willow branch and lowered it to the glowing embers of the fire. “He thought it was okay to sleep with my best friend, and I wasn’t so much on board with that.”Carter couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to cheat on a woman like Tess. Her ex was obviously an idiot.“Dad, we’re out of graham crackers,” Jane said.“There are more in the kitchen on the counter,” Tess replied. “Go ahead and grab the whole box.”The girls took off toward the house and Carter studied the nearly empty glass of IPA in his hand. “How long ago was that?”“It’ll be nine months in June,” Tess said. “I lived in New York for a couple of months after we broke up. Then my dad called and said that Aunt Millie had passed. She left the house to me.” Tess let out a soft laugh. “I’d never even been here. I guess she figured she’d leave the place to the only person in the family young enough to deal with fixing it up. A quiet, small town felt like a good place to start over, so I packed up my stuff and left.”Carter couldn’t help but be glad Millie Adams had seen fit to leave the place to her niece. “Not many job opportunities here, though.” A lot of the newer homes around the lake were second residences. Nacogdoches wasn’t exactly a career hub. The economy was more tourist-based.