He came over to us and kissed the top of my head as I stroked the soft fur on Bandit’s head.
I lifted my head to get a proper kiss.
“I won’t speak for Sloan,” he murmured, “even though we all know where this is going…but you know you’re well on your way to becoming Kyla’s dad too, right?”
Fucking hell. I closed my eyes as my heart rate went through the roof, and I shook my head minutely. “I need to keep a lid on that desire for a while longer,” I admitted, opening my eyes again. “Everything is perfect right now. I have all of you here with me. If I ask for more—”
“Oh shush, Master.” He actually cut me off, and he kissed me. “This is that one thing I know better than you. I know your deepest wish because I share it with you.” He had to stop. Except, he did the opposite. He cradled my face in his hands and unleashed his entire arsenal of conviction. “She will grow up calling you Daddy, Greer. I know it because it’s how we’ll raise her together. She is part of everything we call ours.”
I swallowed hard and eased away from him, utterly fucked and overwhelmed in the best ways possible. I couldn’t speak; my throat had closed up. Figuring out how to show him how I felt wasn’t an option either because I felt stuck in my body, stuck in my brain. Being a father, earning that title, had been my dream since childhood. Growing up with so many brothers and cousins, then seeing them have kids of their own—I’d loved it as much as it had broken me.
I tried to take a steady breath as I returned Bandit to the floor.
Never once had I wished misfortunes on my brothers, but dear God, I had lived with a deep-seated jealousy that wasn’t really jealousy but a heavy sorrow.
Words continued to evade me. All I could do was stand up and crush Archie in a hug.
I breathed him in and noticed my nose was suddenly stuffy. So I kissed his hair instead, and I tightened my hold on him.
“I wanted you to know,” he said quietly. “And now I’m gonna change the topic very smoothly so we can go back to our regular programming.”
I exhaled a strangled laugh and cupped the back of his neck. My vision was too blurry, but I didn’t give a shit.
“You should get to work.” He touched my cheek. “When Sloan comes home after dropping off the kids and nailing his job interview, I’ll drag him with me to the city again.”
I nodded, having heard of Lydia’s plans for the weekend. She and a couple friends were bringing their kids, and Kyla, to the zoo first thing tomorrow morning.
“Then we’ll pick up some food and snacks on our way to Mclean,” he went on. “Think about that before you consider working late.”
A chuckle slipped out. Not a chance in hell. I wasn’t working overtime today. “So that’s our regular programming.”
“Of course.” He smiled up at me. “We have to do something while we fall madly in love with each other, don’t we?”
Jesus Christ, this man. I shook my head and kissed him quickly. “Madly is a good word.”
That made him beam. “I think so too. Now, go say goodbye to the kids. I’ll grab your lunch and thermos. And your to-go cup, I’m assuming.”
“I’ll let your sudden burst of bossiness slide this one time.” I kissed him once more, unable to shake the grin, and squeezed his ass. “Have a good day, baby.”
“You too, Owner.”
It was maybe ten minutes later that I drove away from the house and connected my phone to Bluetooth for my daily talk with Ma. And I was…fucking dazed. Mind-blown. Emotional—on the verge of weeping like a child.
“Good morning, sugar!” Ma greeted.
“Mornin’, Ma.” I took a sip from my coffee and watched my house get smaller in the rearview.
“How are you today?” she asked.
I blew out a breath and chuckled. “I don’t know where to begin.”
There was no risk of me working late today. The opposite—I clocked out at three and took a shower at work, then changed into a pair of jeans, an undershirt, and a black Henley-type shirt that Archie had ordered for me.
That should keep me warm enough to play hide-and-seek in the woods with the brats.
It’d gotten a lot colder this week. People were discussing Thanksgiving and Christmas like we hadn’t just a couple weeks ago covered the pool in Mclean for the season. Growing up in New York, I was just used to more fall weather. Where were the several months of rain and wind? On the flip side, being closer to the South gave us a longer harvest period.
After shrugging on my windbreaker, I made my way to my truck and checked my phone. Oof, fifty degrees. And Sloan and I were gonna humor a bunch of brats in the muddy forest… Good times. At least we’d have Colt and Reese with us.