Southern Pleasure (Southern Heart 1)

The sound of the door opening has everyone turning to look at me. Evan is standing there with his flannel shirt hanging open, sleeves ripped off and those abs, the ones I like to trace with my tongue, are on full display. He really is a work of art.

Evan smiles. He ignores the men in front of him and stalks toward me. Snaking his arm around my waist, he kisses me. Lex babbles, causing him to laugh and pull away. “I see you, baby girl.” He taps her nose with his finger. “You ready to see them?” he asks me.

I nod. He takes Lex from me, his arm around my waist, and leads us to the group of men.

“McKinley?” one of the guys says. I turn to look and see Barry Barnes. He and I graduated together.

“Barry, hey.” I step out of Evan’s embrace and hug him.

“How have you been?” he asks, stepping away.

Evan slides his arm around my waist pulling me into his side. I rest my hand on his chest. “Good, I have a photography studio at Mom and Dad’s,” I tell him.

Barry smiles at me. “That doesn’t surprise me. Seems like you always had a camera in your hands, even if it was just a cell phone.”

“I didn’t realize you and my wife knew each other,” Evan chimes in.

“Wife, wow, I didn’t know. Yeah, Kinley and I graduated together.”

“That’s right. I forgot you lived here before,” Evan adds.

“Your daughter’s a cutie,” he says to me.

“She is,” I reply. It’s with those words I feel Evan relax beside me. “You see the horse, Lex?” She couldn’t care less, but I still wanted to bring her out to see them.

Evan laughs. “I don’t think she cares, baby.”

My heart skips a beat at the term. He uses it a lot when it’s just us, but here in front of his employees . . . he just keeps stealing little pieces of my heart.

“I think you’re right. I won’t keep you. I just wanted to stop in and see the new additions.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Evan looks up at the group of guys. “Be right back.”

He loads Lexi in her seat and walks me to my side of the car. Pushing me up against the door, his mouth devours mine. “What was that for?” I ask once he breaks the kiss.

“I just . . .”

&

nbsp; “You’re jealous?” I grin up at him.

“Fuck yes, I’m jealous. He had his hands on you,” he pouts.

“Evan, come on. It was a friendly hug.”

“I know that, and I kept my cool, but . . . I didn’t like it.”

“Poor baby,” I coo, like I would to Lexi.

“Right? I had to watch another man with his hands on my wife.”

“You crazy man. Get back to work. We’ll see you later.” I stand on tiptoes and kiss him one more time.

When I pull away, he’s grinning. “I’ll be home soon.” He kisses me again before opening my door. I drive away with a smile on my face.

Six months. It’s hard to believe my daughter is already six months old. Not only that, but today is my two-month wedding anniversary. Yes, I know this is not usually a milestone that is celebrated, but for me, I don’t know how long I will have her. Each day with McKinley is better than the one before. I’ve almost slipped hundreds of times and said I love you. I do. I love her. She’s just as much a part of me as Lexington.

Today, we’re taking pictures. McKinley has done a special shoot for Lexi each month. Her newborn pictures are still my favorite. She got her elephant ears for a hat and a diaper cover with an “A” on it. My baby girl is sleeping in a ball with the ears on and a matching diaper cover. The day she gave it to me is one of the days I almost let it slip. I almost let the words roll off my tongue. We had only been home from Alabama for about two weeks. I got home one night and there were frames set up all over the kitchen table. The newborn pictures of Lexi along with month one, two, and three, and then there were the pictures of her with my parents. Not gonna lie, I had to choke back tears when I got to those.