Southern Pleasure (Southern Heart 1)

I grin at him. “You do realize we are now officially brothers?” I ask him.

He laughs. “Never thought about it, but I guess we are.” Reaching over, he claps me on the shoulder. “Welcome to the family.”

Family. My foot presses a little harder on the pedal in a hurry to get back to mine.

This week has been a little crazy. In between shoots at the studio, I’ve been packing up my clothes and bringing over a few boxes at a time. I’m not bringing everything, because, well . . . I’m just going to have to move it all back when it’s over.

Luckily, today I have nothing scheduled in the studio, so Lexi and I are hanging around the house. I’m working on getting my clothes unpacked. Thankfully, we have a furniture delivery coming around eleven. We decided to go ahead and buy a bed for one of the extra bedrooms as well as another dresser to match the suite in the master. Evan insisted I have a place for my clothes. “I don’t want you living out of boxes,” he said.

“Honey, I’m home,” I hear Evan yell from downstairs.

“Daddy’s home, Lex,” I say as I finish changing her diaper. “He’s home early.”

“There you are.” He stands in the doorway of her bedroom. “How are my girls?”

I love it when he does that, when he calls us his girls. “Good, doing some laundry and waiting for the furniture delivery. What are you doing home?”

“I missed a call from the attorney, so I thought I would stop here and call him from the landline. Reception has been sketchy the last few days.”

“I haven’t noticed, but then again, I don’t think I’ve done anything other than text or email from my phone.” I lift Lexi from the changing table and she grins at her daddy.

“Hey, baby girl.” He grabs her foot. “I’m going to go make the call. Then I’ll hang out with you two for a bit. I feel like all we’ve done this week is rush around.”

“Me too.”

He leans in and kisses me. “I won’t be long.” I watch as he walks back downstairs and toward the office. My gut clenches. We’ve been waiting to hear from the attorney. Evan faxed him our marriage license from Alabama before we left. Now it’s just a waiting game.

Lexi and I are in the living room playing on the floor when Evan joins us. “Has she done it again?” he asks.

“Not today.” Lexi rolled over two nights ago and we’ve been dying for her to do it again. “What did he say?” I ask.

He sits down on the other side of Lexi and props up on an elbow. “Apparently, her parents are furious. They are still going to try to take this thing to trial. Fields says they have no case. It doesn’t help their case that he has documentation from Misty saying they were to have nothing to do with Lex.”

“They don’t love her,” I blurt out. “I feel bad for them, losing their daughter, I do. However, that does not give them the right to take ou . . . yours.”

“Hey.” He reaches over and cradles my cheek. “They won’t take her. You made sure of that the day you agreed to be my wife.”

“I just hate it! I hate thinking of her living with them. They told her to . . .” I can’t even finish the thought.

“I know, babe. Fields mentioned that as well. Misty brought that up the day we signed the papers. He assures me they don’t have a case. If they want to waste attorney fees dragging this thing through court, let them.”

The doorbell chimes. Evan grins. “That, my wife, is your dresser.” Leaning over, he kisses Lexi on the nose and offers me a quick peck on the lips before jumping to his feet to answer the door. We’re getting a complete bedroom suite and one additional dresser, yet it seems as though that single dresser is what excites him. I stay in the living room with the baby while Evan shows the men where to go.

Twenty minutes later, Evan reappears. “All done.” He grins. “I need to head back out to the stables. We have two new colts being delivered today.”

“Delivered as in the momma is ready to deliver or delivered as in coming on a stock trailer?” I ask him.

“Stock trailer.”

“Awe, maybe I’ll bring Lex out so she can see them.”

“Anytime you want, baby. They should be here in the next hour or so.”

“It’s time for her bottle. Hopefully, she will nap and I can fill up that new dresser. Then,” I tickle Lexi’s belly, “we will go see Daddy at work.”

Evan grins and waves goodbye. It’s not ten minutes before Lex starts to fuss and I know it’s time for her to eat. “Let’s get you fed, baby girl.”

While Lex naps, I take full advantage and unpack the last of my clothes into the dresser. I’m just breaking down the last box when I hear her baby babble from across the hall. I wash my hands and then go get her up. After a quick diaper change, we’re out the door. I load her up in her car seat and we head to the stables.