All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,79
her a few times while they switched locations. It seemed as if he found every opportunity to get close to her, to grab her hand or touch her in some way. And he was always smiling at her and asking if she was okay.
Small gestures, but to her, they meant a lot.
In the end, Hannah had lost count of which team had won the most games. All she knew for sure was that she was utterly exhausted and needed a drink. They all climbed out of the pool and dried off. Hannah went inside with the women, and they made side dishes while the guys started up the grill and cooked pork chops for dinner.
Hannah helped with the mashed potatoes, spinach, collard greens and carrots, along with a delicious fruit salad.
“Kal tells me you don’t eat meat, Hannah,” Laurel said while they sliced tomatoes and mozzarella to make a caprese salad.
“I’m not a vegetarian. I just don’t eat a lot of meat. I’ll be digging into those pork chops tonight, though. I think I worked up a meaty appetite in the pool.”
Laurel laughed. “Me, too.”
Dinner was amazing, and Hannah ate a bit of everything, including a pork chop, which was delicious.
“You ate meat today,” Kal said. “Does that mean we’ve dragged you over to the carnivore side?”
“For today you did. I couldn’t resist the pork chops. This barbecue sauce is ridiculous.”
“You can thank Kal for that,” Josh said. “He made it.”
She looked at him. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Spicy,” she said, swiping through a bit of it that remained on her plate. “I like it.”
He reached under the table to squeeze her thigh. “You’re spicy.”
She laughed.
After dinner they wrapped up the leftovers and cleaned the dishes and the kitchen. Hannah made plans to meet up with the women tomorrow morning for brunch, and then, since it was getting late, they said their goodbyes and headed home.
It didn’t take five minutes on the road before Oliver was asleep, his head resting against one of Kal’s rolled-up jackets.
“He had a busy day,” she said. “He’ll be out for the rest of the night.”
Kal grinned. “He had fun today.”
She sighed and leaned back against the seat. “You have such an amazing family, Kal. All of them. Your parents, your brothers, the women. They’re all just . . . perfect.”
“I don’t know about perfect. We have our flaws, Hannah. Just like every other family. But they are pretty awesome.”
“They sure are.”
He turned the corner, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel. “You know, every damn day I wake up I realize how lucky I was to be adopted by the Donovans.”
She looked over at him. “I don’t know. I think they were pretty lucky to find you.”
His fingers stilled. “What?”
“They’re the lucky ones. Look at you, what an amazing man you’ve become. They must be so proud of you. If Oliver could turn out to be even half the man you are, I would consider myself the luckiest woman in the universe. Parents don’t consider themselves to be life givers. We consider ourselves lucky to be given these gifts of children who constantly surprise and challenge us. You were the gift to them, Kal. You and Jackson and Rafe. They were the lucky ones.”
He pulled over, parked and leaned over. He cupped her neck and took her mouth in a deep, soul-shattering kiss. When he pulled back, he said, “No one’s ever said that to me. That my parents were lucky to have me. I mean, my parents have, because of course they would. But no one else. Until you.”
She wound her hand around his wrist. “They should have.”
The way he looked at her, the deep emotion in his eyes, made her want to hold him, made her want to wrap her body around him and never let go. But her son was in the back seat and she couldn’t. And he knew it, too, because he put the truck back in gear and drove her home.
He carried Oliver inside, and Hannah took over from there, getting him ready for bed. Her kid was like a zombie, nearly sleepwalking through brushing his teeth and getting into his bed, where he fell straight back to sleep.
She came back into the living room. “He’s out. Again.”
Kal nodded. “I’m taking off.”
She pressed her body against his. “I wish you could stay here.”
“Me, too.” He kissed her, a long, passionate kiss that left her wanting.
But then he stepped back and opened the door. “Night, Hannah.”