It was only a semi-coincidence we’d ended up here together. I’d made the move to Piersville so I could watch over her and help her out after I’d heard through the grapevine what her parents had done.
Like she hadn’t been going through enough figuring out how to be a parent and grieving for her brother, the bastards had sold Shanti to a couple who couldn’t have kids and had then held Naomi up in the middle of a store and snatched the baby when she was only three months old. If it hadn’t been for the two off-duty cops walking into the store, fuck knows what would have happened. Even then, her mom and dad had managed to escape, and it’d taken nine months for them to be apprehended and arrested for other crimes.
One of my friends from back home in Fernandina Beach had heard about it from his sister, who was close to Naomi, and had passed it onto me, along with the fact Naomi was planning to move to Piersville. I’d reached out and had transferred here so that I could keep an eye on them both and help her out when she needed it.
Nowhere in my plans had I thought I’d fall in love with her, but it’d happened almost immediately. Then Shanti had recognized me the second she’d seen me from the photos she had of her dad, and I’d kind of fallen in love with her, too. That’s when my long-term plans had changed.
Still, I’d taken my time. I’d watched my friends who were parents with their kids to see how it was done, I’d watched Bond with Nemi and had asked him all of the questions I could, and I’d given them the space to settle and grow together.
But now it had to be the time for me to start letting Naomi know I cared about her as more than just a friend. She trusted me with Shanti because she knew I’d never let anything happen to that little girl, but did she trust me with her heart and as part of their small family?
Well, if you didn’t ask, you didn’t get. Technically, kissing her wasn’t asking, per se, but still.
I waited to see what she’d do and almost yelled “thank fuck” when she began kissing me back. Tilting my head slightly, I skimmed the tip of my tongue along the seam of her mouth and moaned quietly when she opened it, allowing me access.
I’d just put my hand in the hair at the back of her head when a little voice sang, “Oooo, kissy-kissy!” Pulling away from Naomi’s mouth, I kept her close to my chest as I looked down at the little imp who was rubbing her two index fingers together in the air. “Kissy, kissy, kissy.”
“Cheezeless crust,” Naomi whispered, dropping her forehead onto my chest.
A deep chuckle pulled my attention onto Alex, who was getting way too much enjoyment out of my embarrassment.
“You couldn’t have stopped this?”
Shrugging, he smirked at me. “Probably, but I figured you needed a good enough reason to pull you away from Naomi so we can get back to work.”
Fuck, I’d forgotten about work!
Alex’s smirk morphed into a full-blown grin. “Exactly.”
Blowing out a breath, I shook my head to clear it. “Can you take Shanti through to the living room for a sec while I talk to Naomi?”
Nodding, he picked her up. “Let’s go and leave these two to talk for a minute. Now, we need to discuss my right to an attorney.”
“Are they going to kiss again?”
“Probably.”
Turning back to Nome, I put my finger under her chin to tilt her head back. “Just so you know, this changes things between us.”
Instead of answering me immediately, she chewed on her lower lip for a moment. “Are you sure? I mean, I come with a kid who sneaks up and does things like that.” She waved at the doorway between the kitchen and living room. “There’s no privacy at all. Trust me, even going to the bathroom is a group event.”
“I can’t say I’m all in for the bathroom thing, that’s just weird for me, but I know what I’m getting into because I’ve been part of it for the last three and a half years, Nome.”
Her face softened. “You have, haven’t you.”
“I have. So none of this is new information or even puts me off this”—I motioned between us—“at all.”
“You haven’t seen my hair before I tame it, though. It even scares me when I wake up and see it after I’ve washed it.”
Looking at her silky red hair, I shook my head. “We all get bed head ha—”
“No, this is more than bed head, dude. This is electrocuted hair with static thrown in.” She sounded panicked as she shook me, and I struggled not to laugh.
“I’ll make that judgment when I see it.”