All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,90

if the duty came naturally to him. Someday he was going to be an amazing father.

He’s already an amazing father, you idiot. He loves your kid; can’t you see that?

She pushed aside those unwanted internal thoughts. She had her own life and her own plans for the future. And she still wasn’t certain that those plans included Kal.

It was too soon, and all of this was happening too fast. She wasn’t ready yet.

Would she ever be?

CHAPTER 27

SINCE KAL HAD SATURDAY OFF, HE WANTED TO TAKE HANNAH out. They’d done a lot of family things lately, and he’d enjoyed those, because he sure had fun hanging out with Oliver.

But they both desperately needed some alone time.

Fortunately, she’d said she had an easy day and finished her last appointment at two. Oliver was spending the night at Jeff’s house, so Hannah was meeting Kal at his house. He told her to plan for fun afternoon activities and then dinner tonight. She showed up around three, giving them plenty of time to head out to their first stop.

Luckily, she had dressed appropriately in workout leggings, tennis shoes and a T-shirt. The weather was perfect today for their first outing. It was a cool day, the sun was out and there was a breeze.

Hannah got out of the truck and stretched, staring out at the Everglades that lay just beyond the parking lot.

“Wow. This is amazing.”

“I thought you might like to take a walk.”

“I’d love to.”

She put on her baseball cap and so did he. They slipped on their sunglasses, applied sunscreen and started walking.

The trail was amazing, with a path adjacent to the glades.

“Think we’ll see alligators?” she asked.

“We might.”

She took his hand and he smiled.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let him eat me so you have time to run.”

She laughed. “That’s noble of you. How about we both run instead so we both survive?”

“I like your plan better.”

They stopped at one point to watch a medium-sized turtle crossing from one side of the road to the other.

“I think we’ll name him Alphonso.”

Kal cocked his head to the side. “Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It fits him, don’t you think?”

“Sure. Why not.”

She leaned against him, and he tipped her chin up with his finger and brushed his lips across hers. “But if we ever have kids together, Hannah, I get to name them.”

She paused and gave him a look for a few seconds, and he was dying to know what she’d been thinking. Did he go too far? Then she smiled. “Hey. I did okay naming Oliver, didn’t I?”

“You sure did.”

She gave him a warm smile, and they continued down the path. But that look when he’d mentioned them having kids together. He’d said it just as a random comment in passing. She’d had a scared look on her face though, as if he’d just proposed or something. He wanted to dwell on it, but he reminded himself of his conversation with his mom, about letting things play out like they were supposed to. He needed to let this one go. He was probably overthinking it anyway. It was just a look.

“The colors out here are amazing,” she said as they walked along. “So much greenery, but a mixture of grays and blues and oranges, too. It’s like an artist’s canvas.”

“I thought about taking you to a museum today.”

She shook her head. “This is a museum. With fresh air and birds and turtles and, oh, God, there’s a snake.”

They stopped as the snake slithered along the road. “That’s a rat snake. It’s not venomous.”

“Sure is pretty, now that I see it more closely.”

She was right about that. The snake’s coral skin was a blast of bright color in the sunlight.

She inched closer, taking her time so as not to spook the snake, then crouched down and took some pictures with her phone. The snake seemed unbothered by her, probably because she didn’t make sudden moves. After she got a few shots, she slowly backed away and the snake went about its business, sinking into the marsh.

“Glorious,” she said, smiling so brightly at him she dazzled as much as the shining sun.

There were several birds flying around, some sitting on logs and seemingly watching them as they walked by. But then the path started to get crowded with people walking and biking, so they turned and headed back.

They ended up walking a few miles by the time they made it back to the parking lot. Kal didn’t want to overtax her, especially since she had already