Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 82060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“A red is breathing for you in the kitchen,” he murmured when he was done with my mouth.
“Okeydokey.” I was breathing too (I still wasn’t over the kiss).
He shook his head, gave my neck a squeeze and took off.
I went to the kitchen and poured a glass of wine.
I was taking my second sip (I really needed to tour the cellar, last night’s wine was excellent, tonight’s was superb) when my two boys came back.
“Jeez, Mom, did you leave anything at Nordstrom?” Liam asked.
“No,” I answered.
He shook his head like his father had not much earlier and disappeared into the living room.
Darius, rolling my medium suitcase (Liam had all the bags, and was rolling my carryon), followed him.
Darius came back quickly, meaning Liam got the job of lugging that all up the stairs.
“Did you make room for my stuff?” I asked.
“Babe, I’m not a clotheshorse like you. Three quarters of my closet is empty, and there’s inbuilt drawers in there I’ve never used.”
“So I’m set,” I said before my next sip.
“Did you bring hangers?
I frowned.
“I’ll hit Target tomorrow,” he muttered, going after his own wineglass.
This wine thing was another surprise. I’d always thought Darius would be a beer drinker. He was when we were partying in high school.
I guessed he grew up.
Like me.
I noticed it.
And yet part of me was stuck back in time.
Learning these new things about him, I found, was pretty damned awesome.
“I’ll head out at lunch and go to the Container Store,” I said. “I’m persnickety about my hangers.”
He poured as he replied, “You tell me what you want, I’ll get it. I’m out of the office most of the time. It’s easier for me to swing by than it is for you to get away. And you need a break for lunch, not hitting a store.”
“It’d be appreciated.”
“That’s nice, but it really isn’t a problem.”
Okay, maybe I could take them ganging up on me, if I got this diva treatment on the regular.
But we still had to have a conversation about the cussing.
“Did you hear about the party on Saturday?” I asked.
“Brace, baby. They’re gonna suck you into the Rock Chicks.”
The Rock Chicks.
That’s what the book was called that someone wrote about Indy and Lee.
It was apropos. They’d always been Rock Chicks, and from what I could tell, that also hadn’t changed.
“Is that bad?” I asked curiously.
“Not even a little bit. They’re good people,” he muttered as Liam strolled in.
“We got a decision?” he asked. “I’m hungry.”
“Oh, are we deciding on dinner?” I inquired, and my stomach inquired too. Those pretzel bites wore off several hours ago.
“Kind of,” Darius said then turned to me. “You wanna go out? A family celebration. Our first dinner together. Or do you want me to cook us something and have it lowkey here? I got a reservation at Carmine’s on Penn, but I can call and cancel if you want lowkey.”
I watched him get wavy as the tears filled my eyes.
“Dad, she’s gonna blow,” Liam warned.
Darius got close, bent to me and cupped my face. “Sweetheart, we don’t have time for this. Liam is hungry and our reservation is in half an hour. If we’re staying home, I need to call so they can seat our table. If we’re going, we have to leave in fifteen minutes. You can lose it when we get back.”
“We-we’re going out,” I forced out. “It’s a celebration. Nobody does dishes after a celebration.”
It was still watery, but I caught his smile.
I lost it when he touched his lips to mine.
“Rad,” Liam said. “Can we get Chicken Montana?”
With his arm around my waist, Darius tucked me into his side.
And then he said to his son, “You can get anything you want.”
I blubbered into my wine.
My boys looked down at me.
I lifted a hand. “Fine, fine, I’m fine.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “Totally fine.”
“She’s not gonna make it through dinner,” Liam said to his dad.
“Go get some Kleenex from the bathroom and shove it into her purse.”
“Gotcha.”
Liam took off.
Serious.
It was like magic.
I looked up at Darius. “Is it really just because you have a dick?”
“No. It’s because he’s happy and he wants us happy. In a week, he’s gonna return to being a teenaged kid.”
“So you have times were he grumbles and moans and backtalks under his breath?”
Darius’s brows went up. “He backtalks you?”
I shook my head quickly. “No. No. Never. Not ever.” And I hid my lying eyes by looking away and taking a sip of wine.
Darius nabbed his glass and sipped his.
Then he stated, “You’re a shit liar.”
“Whatever,” I said into my glass. After another sip, I told him, “I want Chicken Montana too.”
He turned me fully into his arms and bent his neck to look down at me.
“Anything you want, baby. Always.”
I rested against him in his beautiful kitchen held in his strong arms, thinking this was working out great.