What Love Sounds Like Read Online Free PDF

his frown in place even as a burst of sweet, nutty flavour delighted his taste buds.
    He went to hand Mia back the popcorn. She shook her head. ‘One piece isn’t the agreed amount.’
    He hesitated. As much as he hated to acknowledge it, Mia was right. He had agreed to one bowl. It wasn’t only his tenacity he was renowned for. He was also considered a man of his word. He lifted a piece of sticky popcorn to his lips. And then another.
    Mia nodded. Tilly smiled.
    He raised a yet another piece of popcorn to his mouth and paused.
    ‘Don’t stop now,’ Mia said, her lips curving.
    ‘No pressure,’ he said fighting to ensure his expression remained unimpressed. There was something infectious about the smile hovering in Mia’s eyes, something as infectious as the plague.
    ‘Absolutely. No pressure,’ she said.
    But still he didn’t eat the popcorn.
    Her smile grew. ‘You’re not reneging on your one bowl agreement, are you?’
    ‘Never.’ He attempted to swallow. ‘It’s just that I’ve got something stuck…’
    ‘In the back of your throat,’ she finished for him. She looked across at Tilly. ‘Can you please show your uncle the popcorn-clearing sound?’
    Tilly nodded and cleared her throat.
    ‘Great work.’ The smile she gave Tilly was so warm, so beautiful, he was almost tempted to clear his own throat.
    He frowned again. He was a grown man not some impressionable four-year-old who held no defences against the sweetness of Mia’s smile. He lowered the uneaten popcorn into the bowl.
    ‘This morning Tilly had no idea where the sound ‘k’ came from,’ Mia said. ‘By eating popcorn and needing to clear her throat she has now connected the sound with the back of her mouth. Say ‘k’, Kade.’
    He knew he shouldn’t encourage Mia’s games, let alone participate, but the warmth lingering in her eyes possessed magical powers.
    ‘K,’ he said.
    ‘Perfect. See where such a sound comes from?’
    He nodded and tamped down a rush of pleasure at her approval.
    Grown man. Remember
?
    Tilly came to stand at Mia’s side and made the popcorn clearing sound again. Mia laughed and brushed a lock of Tilly’s blonde hair out of her eyes. ‘I think your Uncle Kade knows where the back of his throat is now too.’
    Kade stared at the little girl grinning before him. Mia hadn’t even been at Berrilea twenty-four hours and already he barely recognised Tilly as the heart-broken niece who’d been entrusted to him a little over a month ago. And it wasn’t only the ridiculous hat and apron that made her look different. There was a new glow in her grey eyes and a vibrancy to her smile.
    The sweetness of the caramel popcorn in his mouth dissolved into bitterness. Tilly wasn’t the only one he didn’t recognise. What was he doing wasting time in a kitchen filled not only with popcorn but also with a woman’s and child’s laughter? Money was the only thing that mattered and gave him a feel-good adrenaline rush. Not a caramel sugar-high, not people and definitely not feelings. He needed to get back on task. And so did Mia.
    ‘Playing with popcorn in the kitchen might have paid dividends,’ he growled and plonked the caramel popcorn bowl onto the bench top. ‘But the music room has been prepared for your use. I’d appreciate you using it.’
    It hadn’t mattered how commanding his tone had been in the kitchen that morning, or how much he’d scowled, Mia hadn’t listened to a single word he’d said. Instead of heeding his logical demand that she relocate to the designated therapy room she’d informed him that such a venue wouldn’t be suitable for Tilly’s next lesson. She’d then turned away as if dismissing him like he was nothing but a troublesome student. He’d no idea where she and Tilly had spent the rest of the day. All he knew was that it wasn’t in the music room.
    He rubbed at his tight forehead. He’d worked through dinner and was long overdue for a caffeine hit but for some reason the