Southern Pleasure (Southern Heart 1)

That’s new too. He’s been calling me babe more often than my name, no matter who’s around. When it’s just us, he calls me baby and I love it. I shouldn’t—I’m only setting myself up for more heartbreak when this “arrangement” is over—but I can’t help it. You try having a sexy as hell, shirtless, abs on display Evan call you baby and see if you’re not wet in zero point two seconds.

It’s not possible!

I close my eyes and get comfortable in the seat. I’m not all that tired, but it’s easier to think about the way I feel about him when he can’t read my eyes. He’s too damn perceptive when it comes to me.

Instead, I’ll pretend to be asleep while he draws lazy circles on my thigh, driving me mad with want. I should have ridden in the back with Lexi.

My girls and I are on the road to Alabama. In just five short days, McKinley will be my wife. I have to keep reminding myself it’s not real, that she’s not really going to be mine, but then again, she is. The problem is it feels real—every smile, every touch, and every simple gesture. When her body is pressed tight against mine as we sleep, it’s all real.

I’ve been driving for about three hours, one hand on the wheel and one on Kinley. I can’t seem to help myself. If she’s near, I need to touch her. It was a desire before, but after we decided that getting married was our course of action and since the night I first tasted more than her lips, it’s turned into a need.

Lexi starts to babble and I know she’s in need of a diaper change and a bottle. Pulling into a small bakery, I turn off the engine and look over at Kinley. She’s facing toward me, looking so damn beautiful. She hasn’t been asleep as long as she would like for me to think. She was faking, or hiding—however you want to look at it. Eventually, the ride with her eyes closed lulled her to sleep.

Leaning over the console, I kiss her forehead. “Time to wake up, babe.” I slide my hand behind her neck, my thumb trailing back and forth. Her skin is so damn soft. “Kinley,” I whisper against her ear.

Her eyes flutter open and a soft smile graces her lips. “Hi.”

“Time to stretch your legs, beautiful. Lexi—” Before I can say anymore, Lexi shrieks. It’s not an ‘I’m starving’ or ‘Get me the hell out of this seat’ shriek; no, this is a ‘I just learned I can do this’ shriek. She started it a few days ago.

We both laugh. “—is awake,” Kinley finishes for me.

“Yeah.” Not able to resist her lips being so close, I give her a quick, chaste kiss and pull away. “I’ll get Lex. You mind grabbing the diaper bag?” I ask.

We take a small table in the back and I remove Lexi from her seat. She’s all smiles this morning.

“Oh, your little girl is so cute,” the waitress says.

“Thank you, do you have a restroom?” I ask.

“Yeah, we actually have a changing table in the women’s. I keep telling my manager we need to get one for the men’s, but he won’t listen,” she rambles on.

“Looks like it’s you and me, Lex.” Kinley reaches for her and slings the diaper bag over her shoulder, and off they go.

“I’ll be back in a few,” the waitress says, and then she’s gone.

I’m looking at the menu when I get a text.

Aaron: You all get on the road okay?

Me: Yeah. Lexi just woke up, so we stopped to feed her and get some food ourselves.

Aaron: Good. Have a safe trip.

Me: Will do.

I’m sliding my phone back into my pocket when the girls make it back to the table. “All better,” Kinley says, sliding into the booth with Lexi on her lap. “I thought I would just hold her while we eat. Give her a break from that seat.”

“I can take her,” I offer.

“I don’t mind.” She grins at Lexi as she sits on the table. She’s loving the attention. The waitress comes back and we order. I make Lexi a bottle at the same time and push it across the table to Kinley. My little girl, who is all crazy arms and legs with excitement, immediately settles down once she starts to eat.

Kinley eats one-handed. I offer to take Lexi, but she just smiles and says she’s fine. We hang out for about twenty minutes after we’re all finished eating, letting Lexi get a break from the seat. When she starts to get restless, we know it’s time to move on.

“Want me to drive?”

“I’m good, babe.” We are already three hours into our total eight-hour drive time. Five hours to go. Depending on how Lexi does will determine how many stops we’ll need in the future. So far, my girl travels like a champ.

“Aaron texted me,” I say once we are loaded back up and on our way. “He just wanted to make sure we got on the road okay and to say have a safe trip.”