The McKnight Family Series Bundle- Completed Series

“You know what, Katie?” I swiped a piece of hair off my face and then tucked it behind my ear. “Dusting is not fun.” 

“No fwun,” Katie repeated. The adorable little munchkin added extra sounds to her words, like language wasn’t exciting enough without them. Watching my niece while I sent out resumes and did light housework for my parents hadn’t been my goal upon graduation, but sometimes you just have to roll with life. 

I wasn’t too upset about having some time with Katie, though. I’d missed her while at school. What I did have a problem with, was being the only one of my siblings unemployed and without prospects. 

Seriously, I had some major overachievers to live up to. Case in point, we were throwing a party for my older brother who had just graduated med school. The guy was a doctor, for Pete’s sake—he’d had two graduation parties already. On top of that, he already worked at the local hospital…and I was cleaning my parents’ house.

I had high hopes, though. One day, I’d prove I had the McKnight drive to succeed thrumming through my veins. 

Today? I was a tickle monster.

I shook the dust rag at Katie and growled. She squealed and ran from the room as if a puppy nipped at her heels. The game was on. I laughed and chased after her, ready to tickle and play instead of dust. My parents never passed on a chance to throw a party. Entertaining was their life. The house was always open to friends and extended family. If any group of people lived the more-the-merrier philosophy, it was the McKnights.

And when it came to their kids, my parents were even more inviting. I knew it was a little cliché, but Mom had been begging for more of her kids to come home. So when I couldn’t seem to land a job in New York—the state that literally held all the jobs—I told her I was moving in.

I think my hearing was still damaged from the squeal that Mom let out when I walked into the family mansion two months ago. Daddy gave me a “Welcome home, kiddo” complete with his one-armed hug and cursory pat on the back. Penelope, my older sister, was smiling as she proclaimed me her nanny. “Until you get your feet under you.” Which I was okay with. I mean, Katie was adorable. And sweet. And way more fun than any stuffy businessmen I would have been working with had I taken an office job at Dad’s commercial construction company.

Katie disappeared around the corner leading into the family room, her skirt kicking up behind her and her squeals filling the otherwise empty house. Just as I was about to grab her, the doorbell rang. I swung wide, brushing my fingertips over her back. She danced out of reach, and I shook my finger at her. “You’ve been saved by the bell, little one.”

Katie skipped around the couch. “I get the dwoor.”

“No, I get the dwoor.” I raced her to the front entryway, pulling back at the last second to let Katie win. 

She grunted as she tugged and tugged on the iron handle. Finally I reached over the top of her and pushed down the latch. The sun streamed through the open door and into the foyer, making me squint. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, and when they did, I about swallowed my tongue.

Standing on our doorstep in all his six-foot-three glory, was none other than the handsome and way-too-sexy-for-his-own-good Jaxson Jagger. 

My pulse did a double take and then took off at a sprint. I didn’t know he was coming here, and the surprise knocked rational thought out of my head. A warning would have been nice—from anyone! Not that there was enough positive mental focus or meditation to ever prepare me to see him again; not after what had happened between us. 

Jaxson’s jeans hung on his hips, and he wore a pair of aviator sunglasses that gave him that bad-boy look. I tried not to roll my eyes. I knew Jaxson Jagger, quarterback. He wasn’t the suave guy that he allowed women or the press to think he was. He was a softy, even if he wanted people to believe otherwise.

But I still winced as I glanced down at my cleaning clothes—a pair of skinny jeans and an oversized Wolves football tee shirt I’d stolen from my brother three years ago. I had a hole in the knee of my left pant leg, and my hair was up in a topknot and wrapped in a blue bandana. Too late, I realized I should have put on mascara this morning. But who wears mascara to tend their niece and clean house? 

“Hey.” Jaxson pulled off his sunglasses, revealing his emerald-green eyes. The effect was like revealing a feast to a pauper, and I stupidly drank in the sight. Apparently, I’d forgotten to take my come-down-to-earth pills this morning. Ogling Jaxson was one of the dumber things I allowed myself to do. He was practically my brother. And since my actual brother, Liam, was his best friend, I was off-limits. It was the same with any of Liam’s football bros. 

But as a woman, I knew a good-looking guy when I saw one. And Jaxson was good looking. His dirty blonde hair was lighter at the tips from hours in the sun. Though his fans thought he spent time in the salon, I knew better. He’d had those tips when he played high school football and lived across the hall for six months. Not that he'd ever noticed his best friend's little sister during that time of his life. I was quiet back then, even in my own home, and awed by his looks. Oh yeah, I’d noticed him and those rock-hard abs. And then there was that kiss…

I shoved the thought out of my head even as my cheeks warmed with embarrassment. Eight years had passed, and the first thing I thought of when I saw him was simultaneously the best and the worst moment of my life. No kiss since then even compared, but that didn’t mean I thought about it every day. Which I didn’t. I was down to once or twice a week—and that was without therapy. 

Why couldn’t I leave it in the past? It was a kiss. A stolen moment in time. It wasn’t like my existence had started then. Although, his lips had awakened a part of me I hadn’t known existed. Still. It was just a kiss. And, if he hadn’t… Nope! Not going to go there.

Jaxson tucked his sunglasses into the neck of his way-too-tight tee. Leave a little something to the imagination. On second thought—my eyes roamed over his tight abs and the new muscles along his chest, shoulders, and arms—maybe not. You go right ahead and broadcast your gym time all you want, big guy. I could use a little more eye candy in my life. The guys I’d dated lately were not quite so…defined. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed the sculpted physique. Of course, Jaxson had one of the best bodies in football. He’d won Hot Bod in Football Inc. Magazine two years in a row—not that I’d voted for him or anything. 

“I’m here for the McKnight party.” He glanced at his phone.

The party? I exchanged a look with Katie, who snuggled up to my leg. The party wasn’t due to start for six hours. The staff wouldn’t arrive for another three. We were not ready to entertain, and I really wanted to shower before letting guests inside. He could go to his hotel and chill for a while. “You’re a little early.” 

“I was hoping you’d have my room ready.” He picked up a duffle bag at his feet and gave me an expectant look.

“Your room?” My voice went up three octaves. It had been bad enough living across the hall from Evergreen Hollow High’s most eligible football player when I had braces and bed head. I wasn’t sure I could handle it now. Now that we were adults and I was…legal. Though the braces had done their job and I had decent skills with a flat iron, Jaxson had an effect on me. It was like his cologne turned my brain to mush, and I had the uncontrollable urge to giggle. 

“Nantie?” asked Katie in a soft voice. She’s added an “N” to auntie ages ago, and I couldn’t bring myself to correct her. I’d be Nantie until she had a kid of her own. I picked her up and held her close while giving Jaxson a questioning look.

He wasted no time filling me in. “I’ll be staying in the guest bedroom for a while. I’m sure Mrs. McKnight told you I was coming.”

Since when did he call Mom, Mrs. McKnight? She was Brenda to everyone she’d ever fed, and she’d spent a lot of time beefing up this beefcake. But maybe he felt that, now he was an adult, he needed to be more formal, or something. So sure, I’d play along with it. “She didn’t mention it.”

“I can wait in the family room while you change sheets or whatever.” He pushed past me and marched right in, leaving a trail of his spicy scent for me to follow. I breathed through my mouth in an effort to keep my wits about me. I could not spend my afternoon entertaining Jaxson. 

Irked that he’d missed my not-so-subtle signals to stay outside, I went after him. He stopped at the stone covered archway that separated the family room from the entry and looked around. His eyes glazed over, like he was reliving a host of fond memories. 

“Listen, I’m a little busy at the moment.” I hitched Katie up on my hip to emphasize my point. 

“Oh!” His eyes widened. “Is this Katie?” He reached for her, and she turned her face into my neck. 

You go girl. Don’t fall for those dreamy green eyes or his strong jaw line—this guy’s a heartbreaker. My niece had better judgement when it came to men than I did. My eyes dropped once again to his chest and traced over his shoulders.

“Liam’s got pictures of her all over his phone. She’s his princess.”

I melted a little to hear that my older brother bragged about our niece. Penny normally worked nights at the hospital, but she’d taken a few day shifts at my insistence. Being a single mother was hard enough on a regular sleep cycle, and working nights as a nurse was hard on her. But the McKnight family loved the munchkin so much that we were happy to help out however needed. Katie never lacked for love or attention even if her father’s identity remained a mystery.

“She’s the resident princess around here.” I hitched her up again. “Can you say hi to Jaxson?”

“You know my name.” He nodded his head like he’d just scored a woman’s phone number. 

I rolled my eyes and pointed at my tee shirt. Hello? Did he think I didn’t follow my brother’s team?

“You’re a fan?” 

“The biggest.” Even when my brother Liam was Mr. Popular in high school and could have easily overlooked his shy little sister, he made time for me. We’d grown up close, only eighteen months apart and one year in school. But where Liam was bold and loud and brassy, I was shy, quiet, and, as my mom would put it, tender hearted. 

“You’re in for a real treat, then.”

“I am?” 

“Yeah, it’s not just me coming back for the off-season, Liam McKnight will be here, too. He got hung up in town, so I came ahead. But he should be here soon. Then you’ll get to know two of the guys on the team.”

I pulled my eyebrows together. He talked as if I wasn’t part of the family. As if I hadn’t seen Liam shave off his eyebrow on a dare or break his arm trying to jump the fence on his ten-speed. 

Holy crap! He doesn’t recognize me. 

My face burned. A man should recognize a girl he once kissed. Especially when it was the girl’s first kiss. “Who do you think I am?” I managed a steady voice even though I seethed inside. 

He smiled, gently tugging on one of Katie’s curls. “The nanny. And I can tell you’re excellent at your job, she obviously loves you.”

Katie sat up and patted my cheeks. “Nantie.”

Oh. 

My niece's creativity with the English language may have confused him. Still, I didn’t look that different, and I certainly had the McKnight heart-shaped face and my mother’s smile. 

My heart plummeted, and I was suddenly the invisible sixteen-year-old with a massive crush on my older brother’s best friend. He hadn’t seen me back then, and he didn’t see me now. I may not be a doctor like Carter, or a professional athlete like Liam, or a sheriff like Mason, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t amazing in my own right. If people could just see past my hugely successful siblings…

I gritted my teeth. All my life I’d been the baby of the family, the caboose, the one they protected and treated like a kid. Well, I wasn’t a kid anymore. I was a twenty-four-year-old college graduate who didn’t have to stand here and be overlooked—again. 

“Come with me.” I turned on my heel and marched up the stairs. Jaxson’s heavy footfalls sounded behind me. 

My hair flopped in my face, and I shoved it back behind my ear with a grunt. No one walked into my house and treated me like the hired help. At the top of the stairs, I made my way down the long hallway and stopped at the linen closet at the end. “Sheets, blankets, and pillowcases are in here. I’m sure you’re aware that in the McKnight house we value independence. You want a bed made, you make it yourself. 

“Be sure to post a before and after picture on your Insta. I’m sure your female fans will just die when they find out you do housework too.” I fanned my face dramatically. 

He scowled. “Did I say something wrong, miss?”

“You said everything wrong.” I glared before tromping back down the stairs. “Katie, I need a cookie.”

“Yay! Cookie-num-nums.” Katie wiggled down from my hip and raced to the kitchen. I didn’t chase after her this time. I was too busy working out a plan. I had a little red dress hanging in my closet—one I hadn’t dared pull out yet. Tonight was the night that dress was going to make its debut. Tonight, I’d be unforgettable. 

I couldn’t wait to see Jaxson Jagger’s face when he realized his mistake.