Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Pa?” Hannah asked, her voice going up in concern. “Are you okay?”
How many drinks did I have? It couldn’t have been more than three over a very long period of time. Why was Gavin trying to smother me and Hannah looking at me like she was worried?
“Did I scare you?” I wanted to know.
She scoffed. “No. I just thought you stepped on something or… I dunno. You’re fine,” she assured me, and I noted her scowl as she glanced at Gavin.
I was missing something, but then suddenly her face broke into a wide smile and her shoulders fell, looking for all the world like some weight had been lifted off of her even as she held out her arms and her father stepped into them.
Diego took a quick four steps back, walking directly into another man.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said hurriedly, moving out of the way, still staring at Hannah and her father. “Jory, who is––”
“Her dad,” I husked, walking over to them as Hannah stepped back, and I gently collided with my husband.
He wrapped me in his arms, and I closed my eyes and leaned, breathing him in. As usual, there was heat rolling off his large muscular frame, and I held tight, wanting all of it.
His hand in my hair, at the back of my head, massaging, felt like heaven. I loved it when he tucked me against him. He was meeting everyone, I heard it, shaking hands with his free one, and after a moment of grounding myself in his presence, I looked up into his eyes.
The squint was a surprise. “I thought you said you’d been drinking all day.”
“I have been.”
“No, I can tell when you’re a bit tipsy, and this ain’t it.”
Then why––
“You look confused.”
“Well, earlier, Gavin was walking with his arm around me like I was stumbling drunk or something, and I got scared because I know Hannah can take care of herself, but I’m her father and I need to be always alert when it’s just us and––”
“You were worried that you weren’t up to the task of watching over your kid.”
“Who’s technically not a kid anymore, but yes.”
He nodded, turned me around and walked me down the sidewalk a few feet, stepping down off the curb and behind a parked car. We were technically in the street but safe from traffic. Once there, he took my chin in his hand so I had no place to look but up into his beautiful slate-blue eyes. “Gavin wanted you bad.”
“I beg your pardon?” I said instead of “what” because it popped out first.
His chuckle was warm and low, and I put my hands on his hips because what I really wanted was to be in bed with my gorgeous husband.
“I saw the pictures. He was sitting very close to you, had his arm around you, and my favorite one of you was when you were smiling into the camera all happy and beautiful, and instead of looking at the camera, he was looking at you.”
I scoffed.
“I can show you. That’s the one that made me cut dinner short.”
“Oh, Sam,” I began worriedly, “I don’t want you to––”
“It’s fine,” he said, chuckling. “If you saw the look on your daughter’s face in the picture, you’d understand how not worried I was.”
“What face was she making?”
“The one my mother makes when she gets to someone’s house and they’re frying fish in their kitchen.”
I laughed softly, and he bent and kissed me. I wanted more from the contact, but hundreds of people were passing us by as we stood next to the sidewalk on Decatur, and it wasn’t going to happen.
“But just because he wanted to go to bed with you doesn’t make him a bad man. Just a stupid one, for not realizing you weren’t into him and it was never going to happen.”
“Yes,” I agreed, smiling up at him.
“And I’m also starting to get why Aja’s ring is the size of a skating rink and why Duncan’s ring could blind you if you were standing near him when the sun hits it.”
“What?”
“Big glittery rings that tell everyone around that Aja’s married to a serious man who’s serious about her and that Duncan’s husband is richer than everybody else, so don’t even think about hitting on Commander Stiel.”
“I don’t need a different ring, Sam. I love this one because it matches yours.”
“Yeah, but I don’t get hit on.”
I snorted, because really, that was a good one. “I can name ten people off the top of my head who have hit on you in the last couple of years.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “Years. You get hit on every other day.”
He was funny, and I laughed.
Instant headshaking. “I love that you don’t even notice anyone other than me, but I see them all. And when someone is super obvious, like that very handsome man over there, I’m gonna make damn sure I show up and make certain everyone sees me and sees that you’re crazy in love with me even after all these years.”