Jessica's Cowboy Daddy - Melinda Barron Page 0,47

part where we screwed the first night we met.”

“Mom might be impressed that we were that attracted to each other, and it’s still going on, almost a year later.”

“Maybe,” she said. “Or maybe she’ll think I’m not good enough for her son.”

“I’ve never known you to be so unsure of yourself,” he said.

“Me, either.” She opened the oven and took out the lasagna, replacing it with the bread Hawk had cut and buttered. “Meeting your parents makes me nervous. It’s all so… permanent.”

“If I asked you to marry me what would you say?”

She thought about it for a moment, her mind whirling. Could she imagine a life without Hawk? No, she could not. “I would say we shouldn’t say anything to anyone else until after Holt and Aurora’s wedding. I don’t want to steal their thunder.”

“Deal.” He crossed the room in three quick strides and gathered her in his arms. His kiss took her breath away, and she melted into his arms. Unlike her engagement to Grant, this one would be perfect, and she would go through with it, and become Hawk’s wife.

And stay Mrs. Hawk Coleman until the end of her days.

One of the problems with not telling anyone was they didn’t know they needed time to celebrate, alone.

Hawk wanted to take her to bed, to hold her close to him and kiss her until they were both breathless, then to fuck her until neither could move. Or they could play. He could have her dress in one of the outfits he’d bought with him and they could have a game night, which usually ended with her playing brat and being punished. But she’d had a strong enough spanking this afternoon and he didn’t want to give her another one.

He was leaning toward spending the night in bed when his phone buzzed.

“Crap.” They had already eaten and cleaned up the aftermath. Now she was cutting up strawberries so they could have strawberry shortcake for dessert.

“When do I get my phone back?” she asked as she continued to slice.

“Who knows,” he answered. He could tell by her huff she wasn’t happy with his answer. “It’s Holt. Son of a bitch. Jackson wants an answer now, and if it’s yes he wants to come here and talk with us.”

“In other words he has to be in control,” she said. “I don’t have enough strawberries for everyone. They’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Interesting logic,” Hawk said. “Will we have more strawberries in the morning?” He chuckled and hit dial. When Holt answered he said, “Has Leslie done the paperwork on this? If not we don’t meet with the rangers until tomorrow. Tell him to come for breakfast, around nine.”

“What did you just say?” He turned to where Jessica stood. “I’m not cooking breakfast for everyone. This is vacation. Sort of. Kinda.” She put her knife on the counter. “I’m not cooking for him, I’m on vacation!”

“And tell him to bring food.” Hawk disconnected the phone before Holt could answer.

Seconds later he got a text that said, “See you at nine.”

“Nine?” Jessica said when he’d read her the text. “What part of vacation do they not understand?”

“Relax, sweet pea,” he said. The immediate change in her expression made him smile. His little girl was here. “Wanna play some backgammon?”

“What are the stakes, Hawk-Daddy?”

“Loser has to do the dishes after breakfast tomorrow.”

“You’re on,” she said. Then she clapped her hands together. “Can we watch Sleeping Beauty?”

“As you wish,” he said.

She picked up the knife and finished slicing the strawberries, sweeping them into a bowl before covering them in a helping of sugar. She slapped a lid on it and put it in the refrigerator.

“Let’s get to it,” she said.

Once they were in the TV room she sat between his legs as she’d done last night and he once again combed and braided her hair as the movie played. When her hair was done he pulled out the backgammon game he’d found in the closet during his inspection of the house. Jessica, both little and adult, was too good at backgammon. She was an extra strategist, and she beat him more often than not.

Which meant he would be doing the dishes in the morning. He hoped Holt brought paper plates.

“Hawk-Daddy,” she said, somewhat timidly after she’d beat him three games in a row.

“Yes, sweet pea?” he said.

“Will you still be my Daddy when we’re married?”

“Nothing will ever change that,” he said. “Nothing.”

“I’m just going through scenarios in my mind about how our lives will change.”

He