Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“It’s not perfect,” I told her. “Don’t make it sound like it is.”
She nodded.
“I want the best thing for this family, and I’m still not convinced that’s me.”
“It seems to me that worrying if you are the best thing is a fairly strong indicator that, in fact, you are,” she stated, studying me.
I smiled at her. “You’re a romantic.”
“Always have been.”
The door to the garage opened then, and Luke and his father came through. Viola offered to make them some tea, and I excused myself to go check on the kids. Once that was done, I went upstairs to the attic to add some notes to the case file. When I heard some creaking, I turned, and there was Luke.
“What’re you doing up here?” I asked him.
“You’re up here,” he said like it was a stupid question.
Getting up, I gestured for him to move. “Well, let’s go back down and talk to—”
“My mother likes you,” he said, stepping in front of me so I couldn’t walk to the door. “So does my father.”
“Your mother, maybe,” I replied, grinning. “Your father is probably not crazy about me grabbing his wrist when—”
“No,” he murmured, stepping into me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “He likes people who stand up to him.”
I couldn’t help but press my face into his hair. It smelled like citrus and mint, and I had to breathe in the scent. And because all I wanted was to be close to him, I leaned into him and clutched him tight.
“That’s better,” he sighed.
“I’m trying to give you space to figure out what it is you want from me.”
“I know what I want,” he husked. “You don’t have to stand there and think, Could he ever love me? Because c’mon, Nash, that part is easy.”
“Love is never easy.”
“Sure it is,” he countered, tipping his head back to stare into my eyes. “I love you, that I know. I have from the first day when I walked in and realized everything had changed.”
“That’s gratitude, not—”
“Stop fighting. Stop arguing with every word out of my mouth,” he insisted, taking hold of my sides. “I’m in this, all right? I’m invested.”
I stayed silent as he tightened his hold.
“I think of you as being here, with me, as my partner now.”
His partner.
“I want to touch you and kiss you…and the rest is new, but not. I’ve just never imagined doing any of that with a man before.”
“Okay,” I murmured, smiling at him.
“See, when you look at me like that, I want you to kiss me.”
“You might need to tell your kids first.”
“Yes,” he agreed.
“They might not want that, and you have to be ready. It’s one thing for them to want me here. It’s another to want me here with their father.”
“I don’t think you—”
“What’s happening?”
Turning, I saw Tatum standing by the racks of clothes, arms crossed.
When I tried to step free of Luke, he wrapped his arms around my waist again and kissed my jaw. “I want Nash to stay here with us.”
She sucked in her breath, her eyes widened, and I was worried about what was going through her head. “You said he was going to stay, but I wasn’t sure for how long, so what do you mean? Do you mean forever?” she asked Luke, biting her bottom lip. “Like, he wouldn’t ever go back to Chicago?”
“That’s what I mean.”
“And movers would go and pack up all his stuff and bring it here to our house and then it would be Nash’s house too?”
“Yes,” he affirmed, letting me go and facing her, but making sure to take my hand in his and squeeze tight.
“And he would sleep with you and not in the guest room or up here in the attic?”
“Yes.”
Her gaze met mine. “You already said I was yours, and now it would be true forever.”
“You told her she was yours?”
“What I said was—”
“Why did you have me all worried?” he snapped, yanking his hand out of mine and whacking me in the abdomen.
“This hurts more than you think,” I groaned, bending over. The man was far more powerful than he looked, and really, this was not a good habit for him to get into.
“Daddy!” Tatum was horrified and rushed to my side, her hand in my hair, brushing it back out of my eyes. “What did we say about this?” She sounded so grown up.
“I––”
“We do not hit in this house,” she reminded him, glaring. “You’re acting like Grampy and that’s not good.”
He exhaled sharply. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “Don’t tell me, tell Nash.”
He had been penitent with his daughter, but when he turned to me, he was scowling. “I probably won’t hit you again.”
“That was terrible,” she assured him.
“We will figure the us part out,” he growled, his words for me, starting to pace. “There’s just the mechanics and…but the important piece, the love, that’s already there, at least for me.”