be here all night. Jude, try to make your way to the rest of the team without tripping over a kid. Rory…savor the pregnancy. Once the baby is out…this becomes your life. Enjoy!”
Leah ran away as a squadron of screaming, laughing, sprinting eight-year-olds cut across the field with water balloons. The balloons launched like grenades, and I batted away one particularly overfilled projectile. The balloon popped, showering Rory in a spray of mist. She squealed, but the kids bolted.
At least that was the only water breaking on the field.
Rory bumped her shoulder into me. “You’re very surprising, Mr. Owens.”
“Why?”
“Your timing on that kiss? Leah bought it, one hundred percent.”
Yeah, but I hadn’t meant to impress Leah with it. “It was my pleasure, Doc.”
“Well, keep it up.”
“Another kiss like that, and I’m afraid it won’t go back down.”
Rory nudged my arm. “I never thought I’d say this, but you had better behave.”
“You wanted it to look believable.”
“Oh, it looked very believable.” I raised my eyebrows. “You even parted your lips.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You wanna bet?”
“I can assure you, I did not part my lips.”
“So I must have flicked…my own tongue?”
Rory doubled down. “How talented you must be.”
“Care for a demonstration?”
Her words warmed with a delightful tease. “You better be careful, or I’ll take you up on that offer.”
“You should. It’s a great opportunity.”
“A little over-confident?”
“Just over-eager.”
Rory rubbed a hand over her tummy. “Don’t you think I’m in enough trouble now?”
“This wouldn’t be trouble…it’d be fun.”
Or the greatest mistake of our lives.
Rory stepped too close. “You’re not the type to play games.”
“First time for everything.”
“I don’t even know the rules.”
“Maybe it’s time to break them?”
I leaned down. Her lips parted before I even grazed the perfection of her kiss.
Unfortunately, a football thudded into the ground at my feet. Rory pulled away, practically pulling her straw hat over her face. Jack laughed, already armed with a second ball.
“Take it to the exam room, you two.”
He tossed the ball, nearly tripping over his son. He grabbed Sammy and hauled him onto his shoulders.
“Sorry,” I said. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
I handed Rory the ball. She had no idea what to do with it and clutched it like a baby.
Like I hadn’t had enough guilt for kissing her again.
Jack grimaced as Sammy tugged on his hair. “What you do in the privacy of your own home is none of my business…but around here? You’re just gonna give Leah ideas. Even I need to rest once in a while.”
“Down!” Sam tugged harder on Jack’s head. “Daddy! Wanna run!”
A few feet away, another rambunctious toddler answered his cry. “Daddy! Cole! Down!”
Jack lowered Sam just as Cole released his step-daughter, Rose. The two ran for each other, arms outstretched, but they didn’t know how to put the brakes on yet. Puff-ball pigtails collided with a bundle of pure energy, and both kids tumbled on the ground, hugging each other and wailing.
“Match made in heaven.” Rory laughed.
Cole grumbled. The monster of a man knelt down, helped Rose to her feet, and sighed as she gave him a kiss to his cheek. She then bolted to race Sam once more.
“Great.” Cole scowled at Jack. “Tell me that apple fell very, very far from your tree. I won’t have your boy breaking my little girl’s heart.”
Jack hauled Sam up, patted the dirt and grass from his butt, and sent him after Rose once more. “You’ll be relieved to learn that he takes after Leah.”
“I think they’re cute,” Rory said. “They can grow up together. Always have someone to watch over them. It’s…” She glanced at me. “They’re lucky they’ll have each other.”
And the guilt crushed me.
And the lust.
And the fucking confusion of it all.
But I’d swear Rory hadn’t been acting through either of the kisses. Her lips had nibbled, her eyes had closed, and her soft, gasped breath was a secret invitation.
Had I imagined it?
Rory reached into her purse, checking her phone. Her fingertips drifted over my shoulders.
“I’ve gotta go make a call.” Her gaze lingered a moment too long. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be here.”
“I won’t be far.”
“Sure thing.”
Rory snuck away, her fingers tangling in mine until her arm outstretched. The heat remained. Her dress clung to her hips, framing everything soft and feminine and curvy. Even her damn hat looked cute, though I’d have loved to knock it back and dive in for the kiss she really deserved.
“So…” Jack gestured over his shoulder with a thumb. “Aren’t you…?”
“What?”
Even Cole gave me a frustrated glance. “Honeybuns?”
“What about her?”
Jack