Chapter 29
Jaxon
BythetimeAndy comes down in the morning, Kate and I are already working on breakfast. Well, I’m cooking at the stove while she sits on the counter beside me with a cup of coffee and feeds me fruit she had cut up this morning.
His eyes go wide when he sees Kate still here. Her hair is still wet on the top of her head from her shower this morning—one where we didn’t get distracted by fooling around. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to be in that shower and not think of how talented her mouth is.
“Good morning, Miss Kate. Do you live here now?”
“No, buddy.” She smiles as she sets her coffee mug down on the counter and hops to her feet. She carries the bowl of fruit over to where Andy sits at the table. “I need to go home today and get some work done.”
“Can I come, too? I can paint, too.”
I cut in as I flip the pancake. “Maybe another time, buddy. You and I have some errands to do.”
“We do?”
“Yep. You need to get ready for your big night at Uncle Finn’s.”
Andy gasps. “I get to sleep at Uncle Finn’s?”
“Yeah, that sound good to you? I mean, unless you don’t want to,” I tease. I plate the pancakes and carry it over to the table.
“What? No, I can’t wait. I’m going to go pack now.” He climbs out of his chair, but I hold up my hand to stop him.
“Slow down, slugger. You’re not going over there till later. You’ve got plenty of time to pack. Let’s sit and eat our breakfast first.”
“My mom always made the best pancakes,” Kate says, stabbing another bite of pancake on her fork. “But these are freaking amazing. Compliments to the chef.” She tips her fork in my direction and winks before bringing it to her lips.
“What about your dad? Did he like pancakes?” Andy asks with a mouthful of food.
“Umm—” Kate pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, and I can tell this might be a sensitive subject. To be honest, I don’t know much about her dad. She never talks about him, and I’ve only ever met Liz.
“Did he go to heaven like my mommy?”
Kate squares her shoulders and shakes her head. “No, sweetie. He didn’t go to heaven. He lives in California with his family.” Pieces come together as to why no one ever mentions him.
“But you’re his family, and you live here.”
She smiles, pressing her lips together, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. I decide to save this conversation for later. We don’t need such a sensitive subject this early in the morning, especially when things feel so perfect sitting here—just like a family.
“Once you’re done, you can go watch some TV, and then we need to take a bath to wash off the campfire smell.”
Andy stabs the last few remaining bites on his fork and shoves them into his mouth. “All done,” he says. At least, that’s what I’m pretty sure he says. There’s food halfway hanging out of his mouth.
That boy is going to make some woman happy one day. I shake the terrifying thoughts from my mind. I’m not ready for him to grow up.
Andy rushes off to the living room, and Kate and I finish our breakfast. This is nice. It feels right, something I could definitely get used to. I can’t believe I fought this for so long. We both rise and begin clearing the dishes.
“So, Andy has a sleepover tonight, huh?” Kate rinses the plates before handing them to me to load into the dishwasher.
I nod. “Yeah, I arranged it with Finn last night while you and Lauren were gathering s’more supplies early in the night.”
“Any big plans?”
I smirk. “I’ve got something up my sleeve.”
Kate pauses and lifts my arm and looks into my sleeve. I laugh and pull my arm out of her grasp. “What are you doing?”
“What?” She shrugs. “You’re the one who said you had something up there, so I was just seeing what it might be.”
“You’re ridiculous, woman. So you have some work to do?”
“Yeah, I have to finish a commissioned piece. It’s being shipped to Willow Creek, NY, soon.”
I turn and rest my hip against the counter and cross my arms and ankles. “You think you can finish by five?”
Kate steps up to me, places her hands on my waist, and pushes up on her toes. “I think that can be arranged.”
She presses her lips quickly against mine, but my hands wrap around her waist to match mine. “Good. I thought you and I could have some alone time.”
“Huh,” she smirks. “I thought we had alone time”—she winks—“last night in the shower and again this morning.”
I throw my head back in laughter. “Not what I mean. Keep it in your pants, Lawson.” I release her waist and bring my hand down to her ass and squeeze. Kate is currently wearing a pair of my gym shorts that are rolled at the waist multiple times so that they don’t fall off her waist. “I want to take my girl out to dinner on a proper date. As much as I enjoy movie nights and sharing you with Andy… call me a selfish bastard because I want to take you out—just us.”
“I like that.” She pulls out of my arms. “I’ll see you soon. Bye Andy,” she yells as she walks out the front door. “Be good for your dad.”