Light the Lamp Read Online Free PDF Page B

daughter—tall and thin, but incredibly shapely.
    “ Thinner than Sara,” I replied.
    Rachel nodded, filling a fourth grocery bag. “I’ll call Sara once we get the kids to bed. She’s probably the closest woman I know in terms of size. I bet she has a few things she can bring over. It’ll help for now, even if they aren’t a perfect fit.”
    “ Thanks, Rachel.”
    Soupy came back into the kitchen and helped to bag up the last of the groceries. By the time we had everything loaded up, I had seven bags full of food. “I’ll help Kally take this across the hall,” he said to Rachel. “Tuck’s zonked out and probably dreaming about superheroes. Go get Maddie in bed.”
    Maddie wrapped her arms around Soupy’s waist in a hug. “Good night, Mr. Soupy. Good night, Mr. Kally.”
    Soupy tousled her hair. “Good night, sugar booger.”
    She giggled and turned a brighter shade of red than her hair before ducking her head and rushing away.
    “ She pretends to hate when I call her that,” Soupy said to me, gathering up four of the bags. “I’m pretty sure she loves it, though.”
    I grabbed the other three bags and headed for the door. Rachel closed it behind us. When I opened my own door and saw Noelle in the living room wearing nothing but my T-shirt that was enormous on her, I nearly tripped over my own two feet.
    “ I thought you’d still be in the shower,” I said once I gathered my thoughts again.
    “ I didn’t want to waste your hot water,” she said, nothing but sincerity in her voice. She’d toweled her blond hair dry and run a comb through it, but it was still hanging down over her shoulders, darkening the navy-blue fabric of the T-shirt with the dampness. She had long legs coming out from underneath my shirt—skinny, but not as bony as I’d imagined they’d be. She crossed her arms over her chest, drawing my attention to her small, perky breasts and the hardened nubs in the center of each.
    Soupy shuffled in behind me, carrying his bags to the kitchen. He set them on the counter and came back, acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. He held out his hand to Noelle. “Brenden Campbell.”
    She uncrossed her arms and took his hand, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her chest. “Noelle Payne. Are you Liam’s roommate?”
    “ Teammate,” Soupy said. He didn’t seem to have any problem with avoiding staring at her in inappropriate ways. That was good. That meant I didn’t have to hurt him. “Not roommate. I live across the hall.” He let go of her hand and backed toward the door. “Nice to meet you, Noelle. See you around.”
    The door closed behind him, leaving the two of us alone again. I swallowed hard, trying to straighten my head out. “He and his fiancée let me go shopping in their fridge so I can feed you. Rachel’s going to see if she can scrounge up some clothes that might fit you, too. Better than mine, at least.”
    Noelle looked down at the T-shirt hanging limply over her body and laughed. “I couldn’t get the shorts to stay on. They just kept falling down.”
    My mouth felt insanely dry all of a sudden. I spun around and went into the kitchen, dropping my bags on the counter and trying like hell not to think about the fact that she didn’t have a damned thing on underneath that shirt.
    I started unloading the bags, trying to sort out in my mind what I could make her quickly. “What are you in the mood for? A turkey sandwich? Bacon and eggs?”
    “ Do you have peanut butter and jelly?” she asked.
    All I could do was laugh.

 
     
     
     
     
    A drop of grape jelly dribbled out of Noelle’s third sandwich and stuck to the corner of her lips, but she didn’t notice. She chewed and swallowed, then took a big swig of milk, her beautiful smile never once leaving her face.
    “ Sorry,” she said sheepishly. She was sitting on the other side of the dining room table, which was the only thing stopping me from reaching over and