“Don’t I always give you what you want?” He gives me that side smile that always turns me into a soft marshmallow.
I nod because he does. He leans in, kissing me, and it’s so soft and sweet. It’s safe, and I know my Dylan would never let anything happen to me. He’ll always be my protector, and I shouldn’t worry about what a piece of shit like Mark is going to think about it.
“Now tell me what you wanted from that job.” I smile at the determination in my husband’s voice. He’s trying his best to make sure I’ve got all that my heart desires. How’d I get so lucky?
“I guess I thought I would be reading to kids and maybe stacking books for a few hours every day,” I admit. “I hate being away from home so much.”
“That makes two of us. I want the same thing. Not just you home more, but me too.” I snuggle into him as his hands roam my back.
“I miss all of you guys. I know you have to work and the boys have to go to school,” I mumble into his chest, breathing in his scent. The smell of him calms me down even more. Being close to him always feels like home.
“Okay then. I’ll be home more and we’ll fix your job. It’s that easy, Button. You want it, you got it.”
“I’m not sure I have a job anymore.” Maybe that’s a good thing.
“You’ll have whatever you want.” He says it like it’s just been declared a law.
“You’re crazy,” I say through my laughter.
“Why don’t you become a volunteer? You can make your own hours then. You don’t have to dive into this, you can just wade around a bit. Besides, it’s hard to spend full days watching you and doing my normal job.”
I stare at him, then it dawns on me. “You’ve been watching me? Like surveillance and sitting outside the library?” He doesn’t answer me, just gives a small shrug.
“You’re not crazy, you’re insane.” I lean in, brushing my mouth against his.
“From the moment I met you.”
“I love it.”
“I love you.” He slides his hands into my hair, kissing me deeply, and I know everything is going to work out like it should.
I groan when I hear Dylan’s phone ring. He ignores it, but I pull back. “It might be the sitter,” I say, wiggling off his lap. He fishes out his phone and answers it.
“Will,” he says, and my eyes lock with his.
He plays with the top of my dress, pulling it down a little to show more cleavage. He’s acting like he doesn’t have a care in the world as he listens to Will tell him about the fallout from what just happened.
“Thanks, man, I owe you,” he says before tossing his phone onto the dashboard.
“How about I take my wife home, we can have dinner with our boys, then I can have you?”
“You already have me,” I remind him.
“How about—”
I cut him off. “How about you tell me what Will said?” I raise an eyebrow and wait.
“Like I said, Button. Everything is fine. I don’t want you to ever think about that fuckhead again.”
“Fine.” I roll my eyes like I’m annoyed. Dylan just smiles as I get in my seat and buckle up.
“You’re really going to cut back at work?” I ask him.
I like the idea of just volunteering at the library. It will give me more freedom and they won’t pile me down with other projects. I can’t have something that’s consuming my life. I miss my family and all the little things I enjoyed doing for them. I can see how lucky I was to have all that free time to begin with.
“Yeah. I’ve let Jonathan know things are about to change. I can’t keep going like I am. I miss you too damn much.”
I rest my head on his shoulder. Jonathan might annoy me at times, but I know he’s driven. It’s why Dylan hired him. He’s trying to find his place in the mix just as we are. But I know that Dylan and I will make this work. We always land on our feet together.
I can’t wait to get out of Dylan all the crazy stuff he’s been doing over the past few days since I started working at the library. Aside from the creepy boss, this was all kind of fun. It reminded me of when we were younger. The past five years everything has been about us and the boys. It’s different to it only being about the two of us, even for a short time. I like knowing that while we both have changed a little over the years, we’re still the same.
When we pull up to the house he comes around to open my door. “Don’t change out of that dress. I’ll be taking it off you tonight after the boys go to bed.”