The truth was, I hadn’t felt this longing to be a family in years, but now, things had changed. And it was all the doing of this wonderful man.
“I don’t want to sing my own praises, but I think I’m an excellent aunt. Right?” she asked Avery. She was playing next to the swing.
“You’re the best, Tess,” Avery exclaimed.
“Ha!” Tess exclaimed cheerfully. “See? The best. Not that we’re in a competition,” Tess said cheerfully. In a lower voice, she whispered to me, “But if we were, I’m sure baby Jonas would back that up.”
Truth be told, Jonas had seemed exceptionally happy when Tess held him a while ago.
“How are you doing?” I asked her. “Cole told me that it’s a super busy time for you with the business.”
“That’s an understatement. Things are really taking off in a way that I hadn’t imagined, and we’re looking for the best way to sustain this expansion. It’s crazy busy, but in a good way.”
My stomach began to rumble as I watched Tess devour her cheesecake.
“Okay, time to dig into the buffet,” I said, rubbing my stomach.
“I highly recommend the cheesecake,” Tess declared. “And the cheeseburger.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The buffet was so vast that the catering team had laid bowls, platters, and chafing dishes in the kitchen, the corridor leading to the back, and the yard itself.
Cole was inside the house, surrounded by Hunter, Josie, Ryker and his wife, Heather, and Rob.
I decided to sneakily surprise him with a smooch. I tiptoed toward the group. Hunter noticed me and said in a whisper I clearly wasn’t meant to hear, “Laney’s coming.”
They all fell silent at once. Hmm... that was suspicious.
“What’s going on?” I asked, wrapping my arms around Cole’s waist from behind.
Everyone remained quiet. I swept my gaze from one to the other. Hunter was looking with suspicious interest at his bottle of beer. Josie was inspecting her nails. Heather flashed me a guilty smile. Rob excused himself, saying he needed to go outside. Ryker was simply grinning.
“Any of you want to fess up?” I asked.
Ryker shook his head. “No, I’m good. I think I’ll leave that honor to Cole.”
Cole glared at him. Ryker clapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder, grinning devilishly.
“Let’s leave these two lovebirds alone,” Ryker said. The group broke up in a matter of seconds, heading outside. Yeah, that wasn’t suspicious or anything.
Cole turned around slowly, eyes full of mischief and heat.
“So,” I said.
“So,” he replied, lips curling into a smile.
“I have no clue how meddling works, but I’m a fast learner. I can tell lots of things just by observing people.”
“Such as?”
“Such as the fact that you were plotting with the group. Don’t think you can distract me from that.”
“Didn’t dream of it, my very observant, hot-as-hell doc.”
Laughing, I pushed him toward the armchair on the other side of the kitchen island. After he sat down, I climbed in his lap.
“And now you’re trying to make me forget by complimenting me.”
“Is it working?”
I laced my arms around his neck. “I’m willing to let this slide.”
“Very generous of you.”
“I do want something in return for my generosity though. A kiss. A super-hot one.”
His lips were on mine the next second, and wow, the kiss was so hot and dirty that I squirmed in his lap. His lips were feverish, his tongue wild. Oh, lord. Life with this man wouldn’t have one dull moment. I just knew it. I clenched my thighs, rocking into him, tugging at his hair. At the back of my mind, I knew we couldn’t kiss like this when anyone could walk in on us, but oh well.
Serves me right for asking for a super-hot kiss. My whole body thrummed when we pulled apart to catch our breath.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked. His eyes were happy. There was plenty of heat in them too, but I was fairly certain he’d never looked at me this way.
“I just like this... That we’re so close to each other. That our lives are so intertwined.” He swallowed hard, kissing one of my hands. “We should go back out before anyone walks in, especially Avery.”
I laughed, climbing out of his lap. I found it incredibly endearing that he worried about Avery. I grabbed a plate and filled it with Caesar salad and pizza bread as well as a cheeseburger before returning to the yard.
Once outside, I split from Cole under the pretense of wanting to catch up with everyone.