Tempting Perfection

Last year, I’d been assured they were clean when I learned they’d met with Navarro. And when I talked to Knoah this morning, she confirmed it wasn’t a lie. But now, they might have been involved in the plan to take Knoah. Or it might have gone deeper. We weren’t sure. .

Double fuck.

The elevator doors opened, and I grabbed my bag from the floor. Next on the list was my father. We’d be having dinner with him somewhere in the middle of the month. He’d wanted it sooner, but I figured we might need some time to plan. I was ready to be done with all of these people. But I wanted to space it out and not put too much pressure on Sawyer.

I walked into the apartment and called out, “Sawyer?”

“In here.” Her voice came from down the hall. There was something amazing about coming home and having Sawyer there waiting for me.

At the bedroom door, I stopped. Sawyer sat in the middle of the floor with her shirt raised up and her stomach covered in sticky notes.

Oh shit. Has she gone crazy? I knew she loved the silly things, but this seemed a little…extreme. Approach with caution. I cleared my throat and asked, “What’s going on?”

She looked up at me with a pointed finger and narrowed those gorgeous brown eyes. “This is your fault. I forgot my h

air appointment this morning. Totally slipped my mind. It’s the Hendrix factor taking over my body!”

“So you covered your stomach in sticky notes?”

From the way her nostrils flared, I knew I was in trouble. Oh shit. I held up my hands.

“This is not funny, Kurt! Do not mock me. I’m trying to let the baby absorb organization and the love of colors and sticky notes.”

“Okaaay…” I glanced over at George, who was covered in them, too. What else could I say and not get in trouble? Sticking with okay seemed the safest way to go.

Sawyer waved her hands about. “I figured George needed a dose of organization, too. He’s been leaving his toys all over the place. I’ve tried to tell him to put them away after he’s done.”

It was hard to keep a straight face. I felt sorry for our poor dog and looked his way. “Is it working, George? You feeling the need to pick up after yourself?”

He looked at me with those big brown eyes, begging me to save him from this hell. Then I noticed something around his neck. “Is that a bow tie?”

“Yes, compliments of Waldo. He sent it this morning. Since George is his dog godchild, he figured he needed lots and lots of accessories like him. Isn’t it adorable?”

George cocked his head to the side as if to say, “Please, make her stop.”

Sawyer checked the time. “Cameron will be here any minute.”

I realized that some of this was the nerves about talking to her brother and confronting her parents tonight. Fuck it. If this helped her get through it, I’d wear them, too. I grabbed a few and put them on my stomach. Sawyer stopped freaking out and smiled. Bingo. “I figured this might help me absorb some of your love for color.”

I waited for her to take them off, but she pulled her shirt over her sticky-note covered stomach. Umm, okay…So that meant I couldn’t take mine off, either. “Are we leaving these on?”

“You bet your ass. I want the colors to absorb into Dylan. For him to embrace this. Two human slobs and a dog slob…my sanity won’t be able to take it.”

I mashed my lips together to keep from laughing too much. “He’s going to be born looking like a bag of Skittles.”

She slapped my shoulder and patted her shirt. “He will not. Be nice.”

Leaning down, I gave her a kiss, glad to see that she was relaxing a little. “Admit it, you love my mess.”

“Let’s just stick with I love you.”

As we walked to the kitchen, it occurred to me that at some point, we were going to have to decide where we wanted to live. Shaw Tower was not a permanent solution with a baby on the way. Sawyer went to the fridge and brought out a couple of trays of food. Savory wraps and dips lined the tray. “Those look good.”

“Thanks. I wasn’t sure what to do about telling Cameron. So I cooked.”

I grabbed a chip and plopped it into the crab dip. “Delicious, too. You need any help?”

“No, I don’t think so.”