“So, what?” Giselle says, defending me. “Let the woman get her groove back.”
“I’m not judging!” Olivia frowns and throws a chip at Giselle, then turns to me. “I was just shocked, that’s all. I think the last guy I saw you with was Rick and he was older and…well, a lot different looking.” Nobody besides my family knows anything about what Rick put me through, but hearing his name and having him be compared to Lachlan makes me want to throw up. Although, she is right. Rick was a good five years older than me, and obviously without a single piercing or tattoo.
“Lachlan is nothing like Rick.” Jase grunts. “Thank fucking God.”
Celeste puts her hand on his arm to calm him and says, “How are things going with you and Lachlan? When I was at the shop last week, he couldn’t stop talking about you.” She smiles softly. “He seems very taken with you.”
“They must be doing good because Lachlan hasn’t been home in weeks,” Declan pipes up with a chuckle. Everyone’s eyes swing to me, and I stand, suddenly feeling the need to flee. This entire conversation is just too much.
“He’s gone before Kinsley wakes up,” I say by way of explanation, not wanting to be judged.
“Hey, you don’t have to explain yourself,” Giselle says. “You do you, girl. Lachlan is definitely a looker.” She waggles her eyebrows and her husband, Killian, growls. Everyone laughs.
“Yeah, and I bet he’s stellar in bed!” Skyla cackles. “I read in Cosmo, a man is in his prime from twenty-six to thirty-four.”
“Hey!” Jase and Jax both yell in unison. “Don’t be talking about men and when they’re in their prime!” Jase adds. “You’re too young for that crap.”
“Dad, I’m almost twenty-three.” Skyla laughs. “But sure, we can pretend I’m not having sex.” She rolls her eyes, and Celeste and I both cover our laugh with a cough. That girl will be giving Jase a run for his money as long as he’s alive—and probably even once he’s dead.
“I’m going to go find the birthday girl so we can do cake,” I tell everyone, heading over to find Lachlan and Kinsley. When I spot them both in the bounce house, Lachlan is sitting against the side of the knitted wall, and Kinsley is bouncing up and down in the middle. I’m about to yell for them when Kinsley drops to her knees, her usual happy face, frowning.
“Do you have a mom and a dad?” she asks Lachlan. Curious as to where this is going, I step to the side, so I can hear them but they can’t see me. Kinsley has been told her dad died before she was born, but she never brings it up.
“I do,” he tells her.
“Where are they?”
“They live here, but they’re in Ireland right now, visiting family. It’s where I’m from.”
“What’s Ireland?” She tilts her curious head to the side.
“It’s a country in another part of the world.”
“My dad is dead,” she says matter-of-factly. “When someone dies, they never come back. Ever.” Her eyes are wide and her head is nodding slowly.
“That sucks,” Lachlan says, even though I know he doesn’t give a shit that Rick is dead. He’s stated on several occasions that if he wasn’t, he would gladly kill him.
“My friend Fiona’s dad died too.”
“I’m sorry. Death sucks.”
“Yeah, he had…” She puts her tiny finger to her chin and taps it a few times. “He had cancer. I don’t know what that is, but Fiona said it made him die.”
“Cancer sucks for sure,” Lachlan says.
“Yeah, but Fiona’s mommy married another guy and now he’s her new daddy.” Oh shit! I step into view, but I’m too late when Kinsley adds, “Can you marry my mommy and be my new daddy?”
“Hey guys!” I squeak out. “It’s time for cake!” Lachlan and Kinsley both turn toward me, and I wince at how awkward I sound. Lachlan gives me a curious look, telling me he knows I heard what she asked.
“Okay!” Kinsley cheers, jumping out of the bounce house and running toward the picnic table with her cake on it.
“You heard.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
Lachlan climbs out of the bounce house and walks over to me. “You have a very observant and smart daughter. You have nothing to be sorry for. It would be my honor if one day you made me your husband and Kinsley viewed me as her father.”
“Lach… We’ve only been…” My breathing picks up slightly. His admission has me at a loss for words. I don’t know what to think or feel.
“I’m not saying now. I’m just saying that if one day it happened, I would be the luckiest fucking man in the world.” He slants his mouth over mine, kissing me with such passion, I feel it all the way down to my toes. “I wasn’t lying when I said I was falling in love with you.”