The Secret Admirer Next Door (Love Next Door Series Book 1) *Editing*

Chapter 2

December 2018

“Ow!” Kayla whimpered as Valerie tugged the comb through her thick curls. She jerked away, and Valerie pulled her daughter back where she needed her. She huffed at the her toddler’s screaming dramatics. One would think she was killing her.

“Keep your head still, and it won’t hurt so much.” Val didn’t want to drop the old saying pain is beauty, especially for a four-year-old, but the little girl had to learn sometime. A young lady needed to groom herself. Valerie still had some grooming to do, too. She’d been anticipating this day for weeks. She almost couldn’t keep her hands steady. It didn’t help that Kayla was as jittery as if she’d drank a pitcher of coffee.

Kayla jerked again. “Ow! Mommy that hurts.”

Valarie tapped the hair grease onto her fingertips and slid it through the part in her hair she’d made.

“Ow!”

Valerie laughed, the comb between her teeth. “It’s just grease, Kayla.”

Her daughter pouted.

“Come on. The sooner I get this tamed, the sooner you can go play.”

She heard a knock on the front door, and it caused Kayla to bounce on the bed in between Valerie's legs. Valarie held the child’s shoulder. “Be still Kayla.”

She put the comb on the bed, picked up the brush then pulled Kayla’s long, frizzy hair into a ponytail holder.

The knocking started again.

“Cam!” Valarie called out as she braided Kayla’s hair. “Get the door.”

She blew out a breath, wondering where her sister was. The house was only so big. She placed her daughter on the floor, and the girl took off running, her black Mary Janes tapping hard against the hardwood floor.

“I’m coming,” Val heard Cam, her youngest sister, call out.

Finally. Now, Val could run downstairs and check on dinner. She’d started cooking in the early morning. It was like a second Thanksgiving in the middle of December. She wanted her first night with all her sisters together to be memorable.

“Hello?” A voice brought her to life. Her feet pushed against the hardwood as she ran downstairs toward the 5’4, dark-skinned woman there. Her dark hair cascaded down her back and pulled off her large sunglasses. Looking as Hollywood as ever, her  sweeping faux lashes fluttered like butterfly wings over her “hazel” eyes. She pushed her fists on her hip with a vibrant smile.

Valarie scrolled her gaze over her sister’s attire and shook her head, pushing a curl back. Leave it to Dee to wear a tight-fitting, red-as-sin dress that put her breasts on display, boots past her knees and a leather trench coat in thirty-degree weather.

Val wrapped her arms around her little sister,  rubbing her back and savoring her fruity scent. It brought Val back to when they would drive to the next town to stock up on Victoria Secret body spray. Val loved Amber Romance; Dee was Pure Seduction—naturally. The other sister, Mel, was Sweet Temptation, and Cam was always the oddball. She got Japanese Cherry Blossom from Bath and Bodyworks.

Valerie shook herself from the memory, pulled back drinking in her sister.

“Dang, you act like you ain’t seen me in ages,” Dee complained.

Val took a deep breath. “It feels like a lifetime.”

Dee’s ruby lips quirked, as they both remembered their falling out. Dee had tried to tell Val the truth about her lying, cheating husband, and trying to be a good wife, Valerie had chosen her husband.